When Jesus Wiped Away Decades of Darkness, Hopelessness and Desperation

Daily Devotional – Thursday, January 13, 2022

Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.

John 5:7 (NKJV)

Thirty-eight years is a long time. It is enough for a child to be born, start and complete schooling, get married and bear children. Most people can achieve their lifetime ambitions within that period.

Now, imagine being ill for thirty-eight years. You spend a huge chunk of your productive life on the sickbed. Your childhood friends are busy advancing their careers and building families.

A Desperate Search for Healing

To make matters worse, you spend most of your time waiting for healing on the edge of a pool of water, with many other desperate people. For close to four decades, you watch as other sick people jump into the pool and get healed.

Because you are incapacitated, you cannot reach the pool when the angel stirs up the water. In addition, because you have no person to push you, you become a spectator as others receive their healing.

I Have No Man to Put Me into the Pool

Is your life story similar to that of the man healed at the pol of Bethesda in John 5:1-15? You feel you have wasted your life (or at least part of it) in worthless pursuits. Year after another, you make no progress.

You watch as your peers and those born after you progress in their studies, careers and family life. Those with friends in high places get jobs and opportunities as you watch. You cry our desperately, “I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” (John 5:7).

Thirty-eight Years of Suffering Halted

If your story is that of missed opportunities and prolonged failure and suffering, don’t give up. Jesus understood the plight of the paralytic. The Great Healer chose the Sabbath, the day of rest, as the appropriate time to give the sick man rest.

Thirty-eight years of darkness, hopelessness and desperation came to end when Jesus made two statements. The first was, “Do you want to be made well?” (John 5:6).  The second was, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” (Verse 8).

Rise, Take Up Your Bed and Walk

The same Jesus walks among us today. He seeks for people who desperately need Him. With God, nothing is impossible. The number of years you have suffered as you waited for your miracle does not matter.

When Jesus decides it is your time, it will not matter that you do not know anybody in high places. The God of the fatherless and widows will lift you up when nobody else cares. When Jesus speaks, your only response will be to walk into your new abundant reality.

Lord Jesus, speak a word and my life will change, to the glory of Your Name