What Do You Want?

In John 5 Jesus went by the Pool of Bethesda, where supposedly an angel occasionally stirred the water and the first person to enter the pool would be healed. There He encountered a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. Jesus asks him, “Do you wanted to be healed?” Some translations phrase it, “Do you want to get well?” The man responds, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me” (v. 7). I’ve heard this interpreted as the man making excuses and not really desiring healing. This reading makes Jesus’s question almost a rebuke— “Do you really want to get well, or are you just laying around?”

I’ve seen this interpretation enough times that it’s hard not to read the passage with that tone of voice. But I don’t think that’s how we ought to hear it. For one thing, Jesus immediately healed the man, and apparently didn’t heal anyone else at the pool that day. Jesus knew the what was in the hearts of those He met (John 2:25), so He certainly would have known if the man had hidden motives. Besides which, Jesus didn’t make anyone justify their worthiness to be healed, whether they came looking for help or not. None of us are worthy of God’s intervention in our lives.

Instead, I believe Jesus looked at the man with great compassion and His question was intended to let the man give voice to his helplessness and hopelessness. Who among us wouldn’t lose hope after 38 years in bed? Did he shed a tear each time he missed out on getting into the pool, or had he managed to convince himself it wasn’t such a big deal?

If you’ve dealt with any kind of recurring or unremitting suffering, the last thing you need is some kind of guilt trip like “If you really wanted to be well, you’d find a way” or “If you had enough faith you’d be healed.” That is one of the lies of the prosperity gospel and groups like the Christian Scientists. In contrast, J. C. Ryle wrote:

“Affliction is one of God’s medicines. By it He often teaches lessons which would be learned in no other way. By it He often draws souls away from sin and the world, which would otherwise have perished everlastingly. Health is a great blessing, but sanctified disease is a greater. Prosperity and worldly comfort are what all naturally desire; but losses and crosses are far better for us, if they lead us to Christ. Thousands at the last day, will testify with David, and the nobleman before us, ‘It is good for me that I have been afflicted.’ (Psalms 119:71).”

If we are completely comfortable and content with this life, we are likely not longing for the new life to come. And if we are not eagerly awaiting the blessed hope of Jesus’s return, we probably aren’t focused on living as citizens of His kingdom or sharing the good news that this world is not the goal or end of the story. Affliction can remind us where our priorities ought to be. A few decades of suffering might seem interminable now, but one day we’ll look back and realize that was nothing compared to the “surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord” (Phil. 3:8).

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17-18).

© 2024 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Still Waiting

I was reading in John 9 of the man born blind. “‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him’” (2-3 ESV). Obviously this man and his parents were not completely free of sin, but their sin was unrelated to his blindness. We can’t read too much into this, but it is apparent that the brokenness of this world is used to display God’s works. He uses all things for His purposes (Rom. 8:28). He can use physical, mental, and emotional brokenness, and He can even use our sinfulness in ways that will bring Him glory.

I’m sure I’ve contributed to my own “blindness” through the ways I’ve behaved or things I have mistakenly believed, but the story doesn’t end there. Each piece of my story is an opportunity for God to display His glory. Whether He heals the brokenness or not, He gets the ultimate glory for whatever works He does in and through me. There are parts I am fairly certain will not be “fixed” in this lifetime, but that will just make eternity that much better. Some things I’ve experienced in the last few days have made me yearn even more for the day when all will be made perfect—where people won’t misunderstand one another or say things that are incorrect; where we won’t overreact to words or deeds because all the old wounds will be healed; where we won’t have anything to hide from one another; where fear will be a thing of the past; where our bodies and minds will function perfectly as God intends. I long for that day to come.

As I was skimming through some Scriptures I’ve read this week, it struck me how often we take Isaiah 40:31 out of context. “They that wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with winds like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” That is an inspiring picture, but we can’t divorce it from verse 30, “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted.” In this life we are guaranteed to encounter weariness, exhaustion, pain, and trials. The promises of verse 31 won’t truly be fulfilled until we receive our new bodies and the earth is made new. Even Jesus grew weary while He walked this earth.

So we are called to persevere in faith until that final day, trusting that everything will be made clear and God’s purposes are revealed so that He will be glorified. There are days I don’t want to persevere, days when everything seems pointless and hopeless. But I’m reminded, “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised” (Heb. 10:36). I imagine the man who’d been born blind got tired of the routine of his life. The man who’d been an invalid for 38 years (John 5) certainly had reasons for complaint. I wonder how much the difficulties in Joseph’s life influenced the way he manipulated his brothers (Gen. 42-44) before he revealed who he was? (Somehow I don’t think God told Joseph, “Let’s string them along for a while until they really appreciate your position”!)

One day “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4). But until that day we endure, we wait, and we pray for His will to be done and His glory to be revealed.

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

God Is Enough

I just finished reading Ann Swindell’s new book Still Waiting, in which she draws encouragement from the story of the bleeding woman in Mark chapter 5. The woman suffered for twelve years through no fault of her own, but was healed when she took the risk to touch Jesus’ robe in the midst of a crowd. As I read Ann’s book, I was starting to think to myself, “That’s all fine when you’re facing a trial, but what if you’re dealing with a temptation instead?” (Though if you read it, you’ll know that Ann’s own story deals with both trial and temptation.)

Interestingly, there is a parallel Scripture that is not evident in many English translations. In Mark 5:34 Jesus tells the woman, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace…” In Luke 7:50 Jesus tells a sinful woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” The Greek word translated “made well” or “healed” is the same word used for “saved.” So whether our need is for physical or emotional healing or deliverance from sin, the answer to our needs is faith in God.

Ann writes:

“Jesus offers us resolution for our struggle. It may not be immediate and complete resolution in this moment, but it is full and complete resolution for our sin and separation from God… Soon the Great Physician will come, and he will reset every broken bone. He will heal every pain and restore every brokenness. He will renew our strength and wipe away every tear. He will fulfill all of our longings through his wonderful grace. He will make us whole” (198-200).

James chapter 1 mentions two things that require steadfastness—trials and temptations. If we remain steadfast in trials and temptations our faith is strengthened, otherwise we may fall away. And whether something is a trial or a temptation, our ability to persevere is highly dependent on remembering who God is and learning to rely on Him. James reminds us that trials and temptations are closely related because they come from the fallen state of this world, and only God can provide all that we need in the midst of this brokenness.

I ran across this quote from Hannah Whitall Smith as published in God Is Enough:

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 

“The greatest lesson a soul has to learn is that God, and God alone, is enough for all its needs. This is the lesson that all God’s dealings with us are meant to teach, and this is the crowning discovery of our entire Christian life. God is enough. 

No soul can really be at rest until it has given up dependence on everything else and has been forced to depend on the Lord alone. As long as our expectation is from other things, nothing but disappointment awaits us.”

Whatever trial or temptation may be at hand today, God is enough. He gives only good gifts, even though they may not be exactly what we desire at the moment. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17 ESV). We can come to Him in faith that He knows everything and will do what is best.

“Any my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:10).

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

Unseen and Seen

Her heart was pounding as she looked at the crowd in front of her. What she was about to do was by far the most terrifying thing she’d ever done. Harder than twelve years of calling out “Unclean!” as people walked by. Harder than twelve years of explaining her problem to doctors just to have them shake their head instead of providing a cure. Harder than twelve years of being banned from the Temple and isolated from her family. Her shame was a heavy burden, but her desperation was greater. She hid her face and slipped into the crowd, hoping that no one would recognize her and point her out. “If I can just touch the Healer’s garment...” Desperation drove her forward when fear tried to hold her back. Her hand slipped between two men and brushed the fringe of His cloak. She knew immediately it had worked and she quickly started to move away, but the Healer had noticed. He stopped and looked around, asking who had touched Him. His eyes met hers and she fell at His feet as the shame of twelve years crushed her to the ground. She started babbling an explanation, but she wasn’t even sure if the words were coming out. All she could hear was the pounding of her heart. “Daughter...” What did He say? “My daughter, lift up your head. Look at Me.” He reached down and grasped her hands, the first person to touch her in twelve years. As He drew her to her feet, she looked into His eyes and saw no condemnation, only love. Twelve years of shame and fear, pain and weakness, all fell away in that moment. “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be healed of your disease.”

The faith of this unnamed woman not only brought her healing, it also got her mentioned in three of the gospels. A woman who had been unclean and unseen caught the attention of the whole crowd. It must have been a memorable experience if Matthew, Mark and Luke all felt the need to share her story. Of all the names Jesus could have called her, He chose to call her Daughter, the same name used of Jairus’s child whose healing she was interrupting. This woman was no less important than the daughter of a synagogue ruler. Both of them received new life that day.

Although none of us really understand what it would be like to be unclean and outcast under the Jewish law, we all can think of moments of shame when all we wanted to do was disappear. Jesus could have let the woman be healed quietly and covertly and no one else needed to know what had just happened. He called her out, not just to reveal that she was physically healed, but to bring wholeness out of her brokenness, grace out of her shame, and strength out of her weakness. Her moment of deepest shame became a moment of splendor. God’s glory was revealed in a life that was not just healed but transformed.

God wants to do that for each of us. When we would settle for relief from pain and disease, He has a much greater plan of redemption. When we would like to simply enjoy a measure of healing, He wants to use our stories for His glory. He can take all our shame and weakness and brokenness and bring comfort, encouragement, and faith to many others, but only if we are willing to be seen. He can redeem our shame for His splendor. All we have to do is take those fearful, trembling steps forward to fall at His feet.

As much as I want to be used by God, I confess that shame is a powerful demotivator. It seems far easier to stay hidden and hurting than to take those little steps of faith toward wholeness. It seems easier to find ways to cope with the hardships of life than to let God uncover them for all the world to see and to judge. But His grace is greater than all our sin, shame, and suffering. Do I believe that today? Do you? Will we choose to be trust the One who knows all our secrets and risk being seen?

“Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me! Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in You” (Psalm 25:20 ESV).

© 2016 Dawn Rutan.