Waiting for Your Miracle

I do not know where you are today in your relationship with Jesus, I also do not know what demons are still pulling your strings, what troubles you are experiencing or if you have even surrender to God completely.  Maybe you have asked God to help you conquer something in your life however, you are still waiting for your miracle.  So today I want to share a truth with you…God is always on time, and He is patiently waiting for you!

John 5:1-8 Healing the man at the sheep gate pool in Jerusalem.  Which in Hebrew is called Bethesda, The House of Loving Kindness, having five porticoes, covered porches in which people could wait to enter.  Here hundreds of sick, crippled, blind, paralyzed people would gather waiting there to enter the water.  These waters were known for their healing qualities, in verse 4 we read “For an angel of God periodically descended into the pool to stir the waters, and the first one who stepped into the pool after the waters swirled would instantly be healed.”

Now in verse 5 we are told there was a man that was ill and crippled for 38 years.  A little later on in verse 6, we see Jesus knew he had been like “this” for a long-time. 

This healing teaches us several things about Jesus, first, we learn…this healing demonstrates that Jesus is equal with God in nature, power, and authority.  You must understand that the healing touch we need where the spiritual and physical meet is all about timing.  But I am getting ahead of myself.

Jesus begins a conversation with the man by saying “Do you truly long to be healed?”  This man replies to Jesus “Sir, there is no way I can get healed, for I have no one to lower me into the water when the angel comes. As soon as I try to crawl to the edge of the pool, someone else jumps in ahead of me.”  I believe he was not even trying or asking for help at this point.  He had allowed bitterness and hatred to grow within his spirit, possibly the devil had repeatedly lied to him reminding him of how no one cared if he was healed, how unloved he was, how unworthy of the chance to be healed.  It was easier for the man to sit and complain, blaming those around him for his continued state.   

If you notice there were several entrances into the pool yet somehow this man continued to miss his opportunity. Maybe he had become comfortable in his situation, even playing to the crowd around him…you know whining about his circumstance looking for pity. 

The devil used this situation to build resentment in him. The “if only” became the man’s excuse for staying just as he was, convinced he would never reach the water. Do you have something in common with this man?    

Now, in verse 8 we see a loving Father, Jesus frees this man from his suffering, not only the physical aliment but the spiritually imprisonment, a stronghold of bitterness and self-loathing…Jesus says “Stand up! Pick up your sleeping mat and you will walk!”  Immediately he stood up—he was healed!

I am confident God is always working in us, even before we know Him, He is there intervening, positioning us so that in His perfect time we will be ready.  Many of us call this “coming to the end of oneself.” 

That attitude or behavior, say it now out loud, my “sin” that I am stilling holding on to or hiding is keeping me from receiving the full immersion of living water Jesus brings.

Right here I need to point out that nothing is hidden from God, you maybe fooling yourself or others but not God.  God’s timing is perfect in every situation, He is patience and His love steadfast. It is different for everyone, there is no exact formula, what I will say, you will reach that point, an end to your wrong thinking, captivity in sin as I said earlier “coming to an end of yourself” and God will call.  Respond do not delay…He will call again however why miss out even one more moment of all God has for you.

Remember, Jesus is always on time.

In  closing, Jesus meets the man later that day in the temple. Verse 14 says “A short time later, Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “Look at you now! You are healed!  Walk away from your sin so that nothing worse will happen to you.”  Here is a warning for all of us, sweet sisters…have you already received your healing and yet you hold on to your sin, romancing the good old days or maybe you have slipped back into your old self.  Jesus issues a powerful warning to all of us…live in your deliverance, the freedom you found when you surrendered to Him completely. 

It is God’s desire to give you that miracle…Jesus wants us to grow our relationship with Him so that when temptation comes, trouble comes we are ready to fight telling this fallen world and the devil “Not Today Satan!.”  Right now, proclaim your position as the daughter of the Most High King!

Blessing, Sister Laurie