Do you want to be made whole? (I)

The man had an infirmity, and had been at the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years hoping to be healed. There were many there also waiting, for from time to time an angel came and stirred the waters, and whoever stepped in first was healed. The question at the title of the post is what Jesus asked him (John 5:2-6). At first sight, this might seem like a rather silly, even cruel question. I mean the man had been there thirty-eight years hoping to be healed. But actually, the question is a deep one. I mean you could imagine the man asking “Will I have to get a job? Will I have to leave this place, these are the only people I know?”

The man’s ailment was physical, but since Jesus tells us that He came to heal the brokenhearted and to set the captives free etc. (Luke 4:18), His question is relevant to us all. We all carry baggage from the past. And it is only in fairytales that we automatically live happily ever after, when we are rescued by our handsome prince, even when that handsome prince is Jesus. I mean after Cinderella had been abused all those years, she would have had issues. Primarily she would have had an orphan spirit carrying a sense of abandonment, loneliness, alienation and isolation. With 20/20 hindsight, I can see that for the first 20 years after my conversion, I was operating out of an orphan spirit. Coming to the Lord from the after effects of a broken marriage, I was, out of ignorance I believe, marginalized by the church, and rejected by some because I was divorced. It further wounded me deeply. I’m happy to say the church has substantially come out of that ignorance.

It seems to me, especially in the West, that many operate our of an orphan spirit. And whether this is you or not, we all have issues. We will not enter into the fullness of life we are intended to have (John 10:10a),nor we will not be becoming progressively free until we deal with our issues in a Biblical way (John 8:31, 32). Dealing with our issues is not easy period, but perhaps the hardest are our relationship issues. The reason we tiptoe around the elephant in the room, is because not to do so rocks the boat, it violates the unwritten, unspoken but nevertheless strongly held rules. And you are likely to be punished even when you come in gentleness and humility seeking to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). Into all this, I believe, Jesus asks each and every one of us “Do you want to be made whole?”

Father, I remember reading somewhere that we would know a lot more about what ails us, if we were allowed to know. It strikes a chord with me Lord, because I have found the pressure to conform to the unspoken and unwritten rules enormous. I confess Lord, that when I woke up and started to see some of these rules, I was somewhat less than gentle. And years later I am still reaping the consequences of that. Part of the reason I write these blogs Lord, is that I want others to learn from my mistakes. But with those who have made the same mistakes, I want to press in with them, to Your promise that You will restore the lost years that the locusts have eaten (Joel 2:25). On that day the Lord, I believe I will declare that you have done all things well. And I praise and bless and worship You this morning Lord in Jesus Name Amen