Hold On! Help is on the Way!

 John 5: 5-9 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

I can only imagine that as the invalid lay at the Bethesda Pool day after day for thirty-eight long years, his family, friends, and strangers would have continuously asked him why he didn’t give up on being healed and accepting his illness. But, regardless of the question and the ridicule inherent in it, he kept trying to get in the pool when the water was stirred.

He could have responded to the question by asking why they didn’t come to help him if they were so concerned about his health. Still today, some people are all advice and no assistance. They offer prayers and thoughts but no real help for people’s needs.

But the day he has prayed and hoped for finally arrived, as Jesus comes to the pool. Jesus saw him and asked what might seem an inane question regarding if the man wanted to get well. It was not such a foolish question, for Jesus knew that some people use their sickness to control others or to profit from it and, therefore, don’t want to get healed.

The man felt compelled to tell Jesus why he hadn’t been healed. Jesus saw in his honest answer the hope, faith, determination, and perseverance that had sustained him as he waited for help. Once again, it was faith that facilitated healing.

After thirty-eight long years, he picked up his mat and walked unassisted. I imagine that he had dreamed of that happening many times. He could now have the life that many healthy people take for granted. He never gave up. He held on to his faith, even as people questioned if faith made a difference.

Today, I implore you to hold on; help is coming because Jesus knows what we need before we ask. It may be sickness, a marriage in crisis, an addiction in the family, a job needed or help in a hostile work environment, or food and rent money.  

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 states, “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.” Don’t lose your faith. The outcome may be different from what we want, but the result is that we will “pick up our mat and walk” someday.

Amen.