This is a fountain at the Lowe's Hotel in Miami. I thought about what the pool might have looked like that the man was seeking healing from.
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." – John 5:6-8
Where can I find help? Are you looking in the wrong place? Jesus sees a man lying down and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time. He had been seeking someone to help him into the pool of water when it was stirred, but while he was trying to get in, someone else came ahead of him, and he continued to miss his healing.
Jesus asks the man a question when he sees him waiting to try and get in the pool, do you want to get well? The man did not truly understand the question, because he began to tell why he wasn’t well. He began to talk about how he had waited and how someone else had taken his blessing.
I don’t think it is strange that Jesus did not address his complain, but simply when back to what he asked him in the first place, do you want to get well. Jesus grants the unspoken response with, get up. Pick up your mat and walk.
This man had an opportunity to meet the savior. Jesus was passing by his way and asked him if he wanted healing. The man did, for he had tried to get someone to help him, but it was not working. What this man didn’t realize was the ultimate healer was standing before him. He was looking for his healing in the wrong place. He was seeking the stirring of the water, but not the one that stirs it. He was looking at physical strength to place him in the healing waters, and not the spiritual strength that was the healing waters.
Sometimes that is how we are. We are looking for our help in the wrong places. We are limiting our help because we don’t see clearly what God wants to do in our lives. Sometimes God has asked us a question, "Do you want to be healed"? Instead of answering the question, we begin to tell him why we haven’t gotten better yet. We begin to complain about how others didn’t help us or how someone else took our place and therefore we missed our blessing. However, Jesus asks us a simply question, do you want to be healed?
Let us thank God today, for even when we don’t always see clearly, he answers us completely. He gave the healing even though the man didn’t see clearly the source of healing standing before him. Sometimes we don’t complete comprehend our source either, but that does not stop God from helping us. So I pray today, that we have clear vision and see from whence cometh our help, it cometh from the Lord.
