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To Be Or Not To Be......Healed!!!

  I haven't written anything for a few weeks, not that I am neglecting writing, but because I had to take a break and engage myself in other commitments.  I was reading an article today that caught my attention.  The article focused on miraculous healings and why some people experienced them and others did not.  I thought about this and I wondered how do we trust these stories of healing when so many of us often have our prayers for healing go unanswered?  What exactly is going on when Jesus heals someone? 

"Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.  Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.  One who was there had been a invalid for thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, "Do you want to get well?"  John 5:2-6 NIV.

  Look at this story in John.  If we were to read further we would discover that all this man wants to do is get in the pool and be healed.  He probably has spent years here sharing stories with others alongside of him waiting for their healing as well.  But, here is his lucky day!  Jesus Himself enters this man's world and asks him, "Do you want to be healed?"  As I thought about this, I came to the understanding that God doesn't ask us questions because He lacks information, God asks us questions to help lead our thoughts in the right direction.  There is the possibility that a healing also brings a price that should be considered as well.  What do I mean by this?  Well, let's consider the bigger picture:

  "Do you want to leave all of your dependencies?"  "Do you want to work all day now?"  "Do you want to leave behind all excuses you have been making and now take on the full responsibility of life?"  I believe that many of our desperate prayers have a price in their answer.  This Scripture can apply not only to those with physical disabilities, but all of us who have emotional or spiritual ones too!  Jesus asks all of us, "Do you want to be made whole?"    Do we really want a new and harder job, or is it more convenient to complain about money?  Do we really want to leave loneliness behind, and take on the joy and responsibility of being in a relationship with a person that will heal the isolation, but will also force us to altar our own selfish lifestyle?

  There are many things to consider when asking God to perform a healing.  There are many things that God considers when He doesn't perform the healing.  Things that maybe we have no idea about.  Friends, when we ask God for healing in any area of our lives or the lives of others, we need to consider that we are really asking for bigger and more challenging problems to solve.  As our Lord asks us, "Do you want to be made whole?", we should also ask ourselves if this is really what we are asking for!  We need to get the big picture!

  Friends, let's ask God today to challenge us!  Let's ask God to help us take up our mats, burn our bridges of dependency and walk forward in faith!  Let's ask God to help us solve greater and greater problems for as many people as He allows, for as long as He allows!

May God Richly Bless You Today!! H Trent!

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