Break the Cycle!

John 5:1-6 (KJV)
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, "Wilt thou be made whole?"

Has your life ever felt like it is at a standstill? Have you ever examined your life and it seems as if you are in the same place you were last year? Often times we live in a vicious cycle of helplessness and sometimes we allow our situation to handicap us by holding us captive. When you look at the flow of your life, what keeps knocking your life off balance? Seemingly every time you turn around, the same issue keeps reappearing and you don’t know what to do. What do you do when you have a lingering issue that won’t go away? The issue has persisted so long you have conceded and given up on overcoming your issue. You have reasoned within yourself that maybe this is the life God intends for me to live. You question if things will ever get better or if things will change because the issue won’t go away. We have to remember to be optimistic when a situation is spiraling out of control. It does not matter how bad the situation is or how long you have been dealing with your issue. Our issues are never too bad to lose hope.

In the text mentioned above there is a very interesting story. As the text unfolds, we discover an impotent man who has an issue and he is sitting. This was the time of celebration but he is sitting instead of celebrating. Often times in our life we cannot see the forest because we are blinded by a tree. This man should have been thankful for all of the things going right in his life instead of focusing on one issue. For thirty-eight years this man had been enabled. He was always looking for others to do for him what he could do for himself. We have to be careful in life because enabling others leads to them depending on us. God never intended for us to depend on others, but to depend on Him. Stop looking for others to do for you what you can do for yourself. God is all about empowering others to take a step to do what seems impossible. This man was near breaking his cycle for thirty-eight years but fell short time after time. He sat around and for thirty-eight years and watched others overcome their issues.

When others are being delivered from issues around us, we might need to take a look at ourselves. Can you imagine seeing a different person year after year overcome issues? The question we need to ask is what is preventing me from moving forward or overcoming my issue? I can answer the question for you if your life is at a standstill and your issue is handicapping you. The answer is faith. Jesus asks the man a very pivotal question. Do you want to be made whole? That is where the solution lies to your issue. What do you want to do about your situation? Do you want to keep making excuses, feel sorry for yourself or make a change? If you want to change your situation, get up by faith, trust in God’s word, and do something about your situation.

God bless and keep you is my prayers.