Can you imagine this going on for years and years, as it did with the man mentioned in John 5, who had been sick for 38 years? When his moment of visitation had come, you would think he would be gung-ho. Yet, his response to Jesus' question was strange. When Jesus asked him if he wanted to be whole, he said, "I have no one to help me get to the pool. By the time I get there someone jumps in line ahead of me!" I love Jesus' response because he did not entertain or speak to the excuses. He simply said, "Stand up, pick up your bed, and walk." And guess what? The man did just that. The word of God says that immediately the man was healed and whole.
How many of us, like the man in John 5, have grown accustomed to our affliction? It may sound peculiar, but it is true. Many of us have been down for so long, we are comfortable with it. It has become familiar to us. The very idea of "getting up" seems scary. I heard Bishop Jakes ask the question, "Have you developed an addiction to your affliction?" Thought provoking, right? We begin to accept our condition and make accuses for why we are just sitting by the pool.
Unlike the man in John 5, we do not have to wait for an angel to stir the water to receive healing, wholeness, and deliverance. When Christ is standing before you asking, "Do you want to be well?", it is not the time to make excuses, justify your state, or play the blame game as we so often do. For example, we make statements like, "I come from a dysfunctional family." "I was not loved or wanted as a child." "I don't deserve anything good." "I tried, but it just doesn't work." "Good things happen for everyone else but me." "Nobody helps me do anything..."
Stop it! You have been down too long! It is time to get up, pick up whatever you have metaphorically be laying on (alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, apathy, pessimism, laziness, pornography, co-dependency, toxic relationships, depression, anxiety, etc.) and walk. Walk into the destiny that God has pre-purposed and pre-ordained for your life. Your time of healing has come!