Jesus once asked a crippled man, who had been sick for thirty-eight years and was lying beside healing waters this question:
God says some crazy stuff to us sometimes.
Then the man gives all the reasons he can’t possibly be healed. And Jesus answers with a simple command:
Again, crazy stuff. Go ahead, pick up your comfort, do the thing you have longed to be able to do for almost four decades, and move on with your life.
Is it really that simple? Can a person just want to be made whole in the presence of Almighty God and have all the weary troubles of yesterday lifted in an instant?
Apparently the answer to that question can be yes.
Because you want healing. Because God has commanded healing. Because you have laid there long enough, blaming your circumstances, and now it’s time to do other things.
What if, no matter how difficult our circumstances, we could live for God right here today?
What if we found that standing and walking took us right where we always wanted to be in the first place?
What if our sadness was washed away, our fears were quenched, and our rebellious hearts were pierced?
What if our lack of self-control, discipline, and endurance could evaporate in His presence?
What if our bodies could be healed and our souls made whole- today?
If we can serve God in the midst of these troubles, I bet we could serve God anytime, anywhere.
That would be some crazy stuff to believe and ask and hope for, wouldn’t it? But maybe that’s the point. Maybe Jesus is so radical that He isn’t simply satisfied with making us comfortable until we get to heaven.
Maybe He wants to do something miraculous and crazy for us.
I’ve decided. I would rather be crazy and healed than lie here and tell you why it’s too hard to make it happen.
So today, I am praying for the courage to pick up my mat and walk, to hook my heart of the joy of my salvation and leave yesterday’s crippling circumstances behind me.
You can call me crazy if you’d like. I won’t mind. I’ll just keep walking on.
Carrie…SO, so good. This was challenging and convicting in some areas of my life. Thank you!