There was a pool with five alcoves at Jerusalem’s Sheep Gate known as Bethesda in Hebrew. These alcoves housed hundreds of ailing people, including the blind, handicapped, and paralyzed. One man had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him sprawled out by the pool and saw how long he’d been there, He asked, “Do you want to get well?” The sick man replied, “Sir, when the water is disturbed, I don’t have someone to put me in the pool. By the time I arrive, someone else has already entered. Jesus said. “Get up, take your bedroll, start walking. The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.
Thirty-eight years of waiting, of scanning the dark waters for the movement of the angel, wishing for someone to help him into the water. All to no avail. However, the man by the pool never gave up. He waited, looked, and hoped.
But Jesus chose to heal this man alone, of all those gathered at the Pool of Bethesda that day. I can only conclude that it was the Father’s clear direction (see John 5:19). This man gave testimony that it was the Word of God that had healed him; “He answered them, ‘He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’’” (John 5:11).
There is power in God’s Word. When the Word of God gets inside us, life flows out of us. When garbage gets in, garbage comes out. The Word of God doesn’t return empty without accomplishing what it’s been sent to do (Isaiah 55:11).
God never disappoints. He always causes us to triumph (2 Corinthians 2:14). God will always turn things around in favour of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). He is the glory and the lifter of our heads (Psalm 3:3). He is our healer (Psalm 103:2). He is the same God who turns our mourning into dancing (Psalm 30:11); the one who gives us laughter in place of our tears (Psalm 126:1-2). God will always walk us through our process to get us to a place of perfection, a place of more-than-enough in every area of our lives.
There is no limit to God’s scope. He always does exceedingly abundantly beyond our wildest dreams and expectations. God delights in pleasant surprises, doing things that our finite minds never think possible. He comes in on the scene and takes the impossible and turns it all around. Paul said he wasn’t ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). Yes! The Word of God is the power of God, not just to a select few but for everyone who receives and believes that Word.
As you become more sensitive to the subtle promptings of the Holy Spirit. You will become more aware of what God wants to do in the upcoming days. You will begin to see breakthroughs and receive direction. In the Bible, leaders would often go to the mountaintop to seek God. Your mountaintop can be anywhere away from distractions – your closet, your car, your backyard. Someone once said that God’s purpose in taking us to the mountaintop is to prepare us for “greater usefulness in the valley.” The best answers, the wisest plans, the greatest dreams and purposes are all available to you – “‘not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6b).
As you move forward in the days ahead, have full confidence that the LORD has already gone before you. Be persuaded that His mighty power will be at work in your life to reveal His higher glory in you.
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