Right away people will question the validity of this blog based on the title. “Well, of course everyone wants to get well.” Whether it’s physically, emotionally or spiritually, everyone wants to get well, or at least they say they do, right? But do they really?
I am reminded of a situation recorded in John 5. Jesus finds himself at a pool called Bethesda, no doubt a beautiful ornate pool, but it was also a place where “a great number of disabled people used to lay – the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.”
In John 5:3, Jesus directs his attention to one certain man who had been an invalid for 38 years. Jesus could have very easily touched this man resulting in total healing. He could have just said “Be healed,” with immediate healing taking place. But instead He asks him a question, “Do you want to get well?” What a curious question. Could it be that Jesus, knowing the true heart and motivation of this man, knew he had grown content in his state of brokenness and could not begin to image living without his brokenness? He had grown dependent on the help of others and his answer to Jesus’ question of “Do you want to get well” was, “Sir, I have no one to help me” to which Jesus replied, “Get up!”
After 38 years of living in a broken condition he had grown dependent on others, maybe there was some co-dependency going on. Many people suffering from emotional and spiritual brokenness can’t begin to imagine a life of wholeness. Every time they attempt to make changes, the pain is so great they go back to their mat for another day, week, year…
Physical, emotional, and spiritual healing don’t typically come without experiencing some level of pain. Sometimes the healing comes in the form of “being healed from the need to be healed,” which is great healing and wholeness. Conditions may not change, but how we view the conditions radically change.
Do you want to get well? Not everyone does. How about you?
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