Jump Into The Water (part 1)

Bible reference: John 5:1-9

This passage of John tells a story of a man who is an invalid, laying beside the pool of Bethesda. The man laid there waiting.  He knew from time to time an Angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters.  The first one to enter the pool, at the time the waters were stirred, would be cured of their disease.  So there the invalid man laid.  But he was unable to get in the pool on his own and there was no one around to help him in.  He was so close to being healed, yet still so far away.  For 38 years he watched as others beat him to the pool.  How discouraging, you would think.  Yet the man didn't give up hope that at some point, it would be his time and he would be healed.
I know I have felt like this invalid man and I would bet you have too.  I've wanted healing, a new life, a change.  I've wanted a rescue and to be made whole.  Yet, I could see this life, imagine it for myself, but it seemed to be always out of reach.  I would try to get there, but it was always a little too far or I would always land a little short.  It wasn't for a lack of trying....I would attend church, try to read the right books and I even tried to talk to the right counselor.  But there just didn't seem to be anyone to help me into the pool, into healing and restoration.  I have been so close to cresting the summit, to climbing out of the pit, only to feel like there was a schoolyard bully waiting at the top to push me back down.  I just could never quite conquer myself, my past and my pain.
The invalid was there - waiting.  He knew something had to happen.  Something had to change if he was going to be healed. 
Then Jesus enters.  How many of us need Jesus to enter the scene?  I did.  That was the real difference for myself and for the invalid.   The real help, the sole help, found in Jesus.  Jesus met the invalid where he was at - lying on a mat, where he'd been for 38 years.  Probably not the scene you'd like to find yourself in when you met Jesus.  The invalid's situation was far from glamorous or flattering or clean, I'm sure.  If  no one was there to help him into the pool, I doubt he had maid service or laundry service.  But Jesus didnt' care.  Jesus met the invalid at his lowest point, among the filth and in the middle of his broken body.  And I know for myself, Jesus waited to meet me at this point in my life too.  He was there with out stretched arms in the middle of my dirty, messy life.  There is no pre-rinse cycle with Jesus.  He takes it all.  He takes all the old, dried up pain, mistakes; all the caked on baggage and sin and He washes it away.  That is Jesus' promise to us if we are willing to let him meet us at this point, in such a condition.  You see, it is when we try to clean up before Jesus shows up that we mess up even more.  Jesus doesn't need our help.  Jesus wants our heart - dirt and all.
The lesson of the invalid is a powerful one.....stay plugged in for the next couple of posts to uncover the healing miracle and the change that awaits.