“Jesus said . . ‘Get up . . and walk.’” John 5:8 NIV
“You can’t get where you want to be if you stay where you have been.”
My thoughts today are that “you can do it!”
There are a lot of things you will have to confront that are difficult; some may seem impossible at the time. There is two things that I would want you to always remember: God can do what He promises to do, when you do what He asks you to do, and you can do whatever you need to do when God tells you to do it. Though at the moment you may not feel like you can – even when everything about the past might suggest that you can’t. Whatever God tells you to do, He will enable you to do.
Today’s verse tells the story of a man in a dilemma. He has been an invalid for 38 years – physically and emotionally – dependent upon the help and kindness of others. He had been brought to a place where he and others looked for healing. But there was not much that he could do except wait and hope. Read John 5:1-8 NIV. The longer he waited for healing the harder it was to hope. I wonder how many times across those years he was ready to give up the dwindling hope to which he was hanging on. What else did he have but hope? Been there, done that!
That hope is Biblically described as “an anchor of the soul, both firm and secure.” See Hebrews 6:11-20 NIV. Your hope is firm and secure when it is anchored to Jesus! What are you hoping for today – not just something good you casually wish would happen, but something life-saving that you desperately need to happen? He hadn’t chosen to be in the place of helplessness where he was; that had been imposed upon him by circumstances long ago. But now, He found himself right there, but in the company of Jesus. Today would be different from every other day.
What Jesus wanted to do for him was amazing and miraculous. What Jesus asked him to do was simple but seemed impossible. Here’s how John describes the scene, “When Jesus saw him and learned that he had been in this condition a long time, He asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’. . Jesus said . . ‘Get up . . and walk!’” John 5:6/8 NIV. He had to be willing to believe what he wanted was possible and that He could do what he had previously been unable to do for so long, simply because Jesus was asking him to do so.
The result? “At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.” John 5:8-9 NIV. He walked! He did what he couldn’t do until that moment, because he dared to believe Jesus. He got up from his bed of affliction and walked away from where he had been. You can’t get where you want to be if you stay where you have been.
When will your situation change? When will you get better? The answer seems too simple; the truth usually is. When you understand that Jesus wants to heal you and you do whatever He is asking you to believe you can do, you will experience release and healing.
I love the rest of the story because its truth reaches all the way to you and me everyday, “My Father is always at work to this very day, and I too am working.” John 5:16 NIV. Believing that renews my hope when I struggle. Whatever else isn’t working for you today, God is!
My prayer for you today is: hear His invitation to get up and walk away from the past.