Where Is Hope?

The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me." Jesus said to him, "Get up, pick up your pallet and walk." (John 5:7-8)

I see myself in many ways in this story of the sick man and his views of reality. And one of the ways that this story flushes out mistaken views in my heart is how this man thought his healing had to take place – if ever. He had concluded long ago that the only hope for him was to be empowered enough to make it into a pool that superstition taught could bring healing to the first one in after the stirrings. But since it now appeared hopeless after many tries because of his relative weakness compared to most of the others equally eager to get healing, this man had given up on the only prospect he had left. He now had resigned himself to just living out his miserable existence until he would find relief in death.

I find that I too, like many others around me, have made some assumptions about what needs to happen in order for me to find any meaningful healing in my life. I have even said to others at times that what I think I must have is someone who can understand me enough and have the fine balance between toughness and gentleness to break through my subconscious defensiveness and then be able to handle all the ugliness that is sure to come pouring out. But then I am afraid that it might be so shocking that nearly anyone who might find themselves involved in that scene might be overwhelmed and then I would feel even more guilty and go back into my hiding place as a recluse and repress it all over again.

Since I have only heard about situations that I believe might actually enable me to find emotional freedom and those places and resources are always far away and too expensive for me, then my hopes keep ebbing away and I feel forced to resign myself to accepting my condition as possibly permanent. I do not like that prospect, but then why should I complain – most other people are in the same predicament that I am in and most of them can't find any help for their problems either.

But the rumors keep emerging to arouse yet more hope from time to time. I hear about some highly effective ministry that reports amazing breakthroughs in other people's lives and I find myself urgently seeking to buy their books and videos. These indeed have proved helpful each time and really have made a difference in how I perceive life and have given me very valuable tools to address my triggers and release some of my baggage. But I still long for some connection with someone with elder maturity who might have the experience and patience and skills needed to really help me progress and mature more quickly without adding too much to my pain. But that has never materialized for me and so my hopes keep fading away again and again.

Yet as I read this story I feel confronted about my assumptions just as this man was challenged to reconsider his assumptions about what had to happen if he were ever to find wholeness again. When Jesus asked him if he wanted to be well his mind immediately reverted to the method he was sure was the only hope he had in that direction, and then all he could think about were the insurmountable obstacles that prevented him from getting there. But Jesus seemed totally uninterested in this man's ideas about what had to happen before he could get experience help and simply offered him the most startling and blunt offer of healing one could imagine. Instead of reviewing all his options and explaining to him why none of them would actually be good for him, Jesus simply offered the gift of healing directly – but predicated it on the choice of the man to accept and act on this offer totally on faith.

But remember, this man had never met Jesus before and did not know who He was or the power He had to offer. This is clear later in the passage when the man could not identify who it was that had healed him. So he was faced with a totally unexpected offer from a complete stranger that conflicted with the traditions and assumptions of everyone around him and yet he was expected to make a quick decision that would impact him dramatically for the rest of his life. He was forced to choose whether to remain in his comfort zone and fit in with what everyone around him believed or he had to take action based on some most unusual words of a stranger and risk sticking out like a sore thumb, but also with the potential to experience what he longed for most deeply in his soul. His whole destiny hinged on what he would choose to do in that moment as Jesus invited him to step away from everything he previously assumed and move into a whole new dimension of existence that required living faith to enjoy.

How often do my ideas and assumptions about what has to happen in order for me to find freedom and joy conflict with God's succinct offer of grace, healing and wholeness to me directly?

How can I recognize when Jesus may be standing very close to me offering what I have craved for most deeply for much of my life but cannot perceive who it is that is making me this offer?

How many times do I fail to be willing to ignore what others are going to think about me, to break with the traditions that have governed my life and to move boldly into a whole new dimension of life, thriving, growing and worshiping God in ways that will surly appear scandalous to those who cannot see or believe what I have experienced?

How much do I allow what others think about me along with my own preconceptions and fears to inhibit me from stepping into a life of wholeness and joy and vulnerability?

How close is Jesus standing to me right now offering a whole new way of thinking as well as close intimacy with Himself just waiting for me to take my eyes off of what feels normal to everyone around me and to move into fellowship with a community of true believers who are waiting to embrace me and share with me in a new life of joy and encouragement and accountability?

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)