Look at the Possibilities

The title of this chapter is a little misleading. It does not actually tell you what this chapter is about. The chapter is actually about healing. This chapter has profound relevance to me and my current condition. Yet, I struggle with this one very much because of the time that has passed and nothing has happened. The author opens with the text from John 5.
"One day Jesus visited a place in Jerusalem called "Bethesda," which means "house of grace." There were many sick people at that place because at certain times the water would be stirred, and whoever got into the water was healed. Jesus found a man there who had been crippled for thirty-eight years, and He asked the man, "Do you want to be healed?" Instead of saying, "Yes, I do!" the man replied, "Sir, I have no man to put me in the water, and everybody else gets in before I do "Before you criticize that man, you had better ask yourself whether you have made the same mistake he made.
When Jesus showed up at the pool of Bethesda and walked among those handicapped people waiting to be healed, He was bringing them the greatest opportunity they ever had. He was God--He was the Healer--and nobody had to struggle to the water to be healed. Faith in Christ would have healed them instantly." (p. 123).
I can identify with the man. First off, I can't walk. Instant connection there. Second, he is all alone. In this particular season I feel very alone and isolated. Third, he is helpless. No one helps him into the pool where he can find healing. No one can help me to heal. Fourth, he is very focused on himself, that is in a state of self-pity. Me too. I have had a lot of self-defeating negative thoughts recently. I feel very helpless and hopeless. The author's statement of faith in Christ would have healed him instantly seems lacking in compassion. I often wonder about healing. I have prayed many times a day for over ten weeks now for healing and I am not any better. It is not a matter of faith. I wrestle over and over again with the question of whether or not God can heal or God cares. So what mistakes did the cripple man make?
"That's the first mistake the crippled man made: he judged the present by the past. His argument was logical except for one thing: he left God out of the picture. God is not limited by the past. No matter how many disappointments and failures we may have had in the past, when Jesus Christ comes on the scene, everything has to change.
I can well understand the attitude of this man. When you have been shoved aside year after year and neglected by those who could help you, you get discouraged; and you come to the conclusion that you will never get any better. But this attitude was a mistake. Jesus Christ the Son of God was right by this man's side. He said to the man, "Rise--take up your bed and walk!" And the man obeyed by faith and was made whole!
Nothing paralyzes our lives like the attitude that things can never change. We need to remind ourselves that God can change things! God can forgive sin and put new power into lives that seem to be utter failures. God can send revival to a church that everybody thinks is dead. God can move into a difficult situation and turn seeming failure into victory. God makes the difference! And for us to judge the present by the past is to limit God." (p. 124).
Looking at the past and seeing things through rational eyes is a major problem. It is a major roadblock. I read in another book that one reason why to not give up praying even after praying for seventy five days is who knows, maybe God will answer on day seventy six. My situation seems so bleak. So many days have passed, and nothing happens. I sleep on the couch now because I cannot walk up the stairs. I see my problems bigger than my God. I keep God in the picture, but God seems so distant.

"The crippled man's second mistake seeing The problems and not the possibilities. "Whenever the water is stirred and I can't get down, nobodv will help me, and somebody else always gets there first." But Jesus didn't ask the man what his problems were; he asked him what his desires were. "Do you want to be made whole?"
perhaps this is what separates the optimist from the pessimist. The optimist sees possibilities in the problems, and the pessimist sees problems in the possibilities. One sees the opportunities and the other sees the obstacles. But the real basis for optimism is faith. When you bring God into the picture, even the greatest problems can become great potentials for blessing. The aposfie Paul was a spiritual optimist. He wrote to his friends at Corinth from the city of Ephesus, "But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and there are many adversaries" (1 Cor. 16:8-9). You and I may have written, "In spite of the fact that there is a great opportunity here, I am leaving town because there are too many problems!" (p. 125).
I like how the authors puts it. I do not see possibilities in the problems. The cripple man saw the problems in the possibilities. This happens when we think of all the excuses and forget that there is hope. I am a lot like that right now. I have tried so many things and prayed so many weeks that I am almost hopeless.

"Faith is the one thing God requires if He is going to work miracles in our lives. The great heroes of the Bible were heroes, not because of their talents or personalities but because of their faith. If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, then you already have faith; and this faith has brought to you the greatest miracle of all--salvation. No; instead of complaining about what you don't have, why not start with what you do have--your faith in Christ--and let that faith lay hold of the promises of God.
So often we overlook this tremendous thing called faith. We try to change situations in our own strength and wisdom, only to have the situations grow worse. If only we would turn ourselves and our problems over to the Lord and trust Him to work, we would then discover what wonderful changes He can make. He said to some blind men one day, "According to your faith be it unto you," and He healed them. He says the same thing to you and me.
The man at the pool of Bethesda obeyed the command to stand up and walk. He had not stood and walked for thirty-eight years, but when the command of the Lord was given, he acted upon it by faith, and when he obeyed by faith, God's power went to work in his body and restored him. He could have argued, "But I can't stand up! I can't walk!" But faith never says, "I can't"; faith says, "God can! .... With God nothing is impossible!"
I'm sure that many people have situations that they would like to see changed. Perhaps you have been so wrapped up in the problems that you haven't been able to see the possibilities. You have gotten locked into the past and you can't realize that God is able to change the past. Jesus Christ comes to you now and asks whether or not you want to be made whole. You can respond with a complaint or an excuse and miss the miracle. Or you can respond with faith and experience the power of God. God may not give you an instant solution as he did the man at Bethesda, but He will begin to work in your life and lead you to the place of liberty and victory." (p. 126-127).
Prayer,
Father, I am so depressed today. I see the problem and not the possibilities. You are on my mind and thoughts, but I cannot find hope. I feel down and discouraged. I want healing but for over ten weeks, nothing has gotten better. Father, I want healing and victory, but feel so defeated. My knee has been really stiff all day and movement is so hard. I cry out to You for help, hope, and healing in Jesus name. Help me to believe that with You all things are possible.