Would You?

John 5:^6-7 “When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

This man’s response never ceases to amaze me. The question was, “Would you like to get well?” What was his response, “I can’t, Sir.”? His response amazes me not because I am mocking the man. It amazes me because I am asking myself, how has God asked me, “Would you like to get well?”, and I have said, “I can’t”. How has God asked you, “Would you like to get well?”, and you are answering a question He did not ask you. If the question was, “Can you get well?”, then the answer would be, “I can’t” because if he could, he would have. But Jesus was not asking him, “Can you get well” because He knew that if the man could, he would have gotten well. Jesus asked, “Would you like to get well?” Do you have that desire? Do you want to get well?

There are many things we want to do but we cannot do. For example, would you like to have a private jet? My answer is, yes, because I would like to be in Lagos on Sunday, South Africa on Tuesday, Dallas on Wednesday, Costa Rica on Thursday, Colombia on Friday, and Canada on Saturday. What is God asking you, “Would you like to?”, that you sum up your situation and your response is, “I can’t”. He is not saying, can you, He is saying, would you like to? God is interested in our desires. God wants to meet you at the point of your desire, at your point of need. He does not want to meet you at the point of your ability. You do not have the ability. “I can’t”, is a response to ability. “Would you like to”, is a question of desire.

God wants to meet you at the point of your desire, not at the point of your ability. We are weak and He knows our frame, He knows we are dust. He is not asking you, “Can you?”. He is asking, “Would you like to…?” Would you like to get well? I pray that as God is asking you, “Would you like to…”, your response will not be, “I can’t”, in the Name of Jesus. John 5:^6-7 “…he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” It is interesting how we like to justify our inabilities, and how we try to justify our limitations.

What did Jesus ask, what are you answering? All this man could see was the process and the people that made up his limitations. I am limited because of this process. It is an unfair process. By the time the water is stirred, I am not fast enough, and I have no one. Sometimes we are so consumed with the process and the people, and we miss the mercy and the grace of God. Whenever we are fixated on the process and the people, we lose sight of grace.

Prayer: Father, my eyes are on You, help me have the right responses, in Jesus Name. Amen!