Got Beef?

John 5:⁷ “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.” (emphasis added).

This man had two people beefs. His first beef was with the people who did him dirty—his friends and family. This man must have had brothers and sisters. He must have had family members. Let me tell you something, brothers and sisters can leave you when your own becomes too much. I pray in the Name of Jesus that God will always be there for you. This kind of man would have told Jesus his entire story. They had to summarize it for us in the Bible. I helped them but they abandoned me. There was one that I paid his school fees. That woman stayed in my house for years. I fed her but she left me here. I did this and that for them. I fought their battles for them. I stood in the line of fire for them.

Man is designed to disappoint; you need to understand that. The best of men are men still. So, he had beef with people that should help him but did not help him. Never get stuck on that in your life in the Name of Jesus. You are probably thinking that this person can help you, it means nothing to them. But they have chosen not to. And if they choose not to then that is their business. Your help is from the Lord. God will bring help for you. Then the second beef this man had was with the people who were faster than him. The people issues are not just one-sided, sometimes it is two-sided. He had issues with someone else always getting there before him. Why did he have to tell Jesus that? “Do you want to be healed?”, that was the question. Why narrate the life story of his “people challenges”—this person did this and that person did that.

Sometimes, you think you should have gotten married first, but someone else got married before you. As a Pastor, I counsel loads of people. Many years ago, a lady thought she loved some guy, but before she knew it, her sister was getting married to him. So, she came to see me, sad and pained. I explained to her that, “Listen, don’t worry, he is not your man.” In fact, a man who could date her (he actually dated her), and married her sister, where is the honour? But today she is married, she has her own family, her own children, and she is happy. She could have been bitter towards her sister because someone else got there before me.

You have been trusting God to get a particular kind of car. But the money is just not coming together. Then you step out and see someone else cruising in that car. How would you feel? You should thank God for them, don’t be like this man with his “someone-else beef” and complains. Jabez could have blamed people, and harboured beef, but Jabez cried out to God.

Prayer: Father, work out Your plans for my life—for Your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me (Psalm 138:8), in Jesus Name. Amen!