Do You Want to Be Made Well?
March 12, 2019
“Do you want to be made well?” This was the question Jesus asked the paralytic in John Chapter 5. We’ve all known people who are difficult to be around because they are always complaining about their health, their finances, their job, their family or any other of a number of things. They seem to carry around this cloud of negativity that you can almost visibly see, like Pigpen’s cloud of filth in the Charlie Brown cartoon. I watched Winnie the Pooh as a kid. Whenever Winnie, Tigger, Piglet or any of the other characters met Eeyore the sad sack donkey, they would always find him complaining. He was always pessimistic and depressed. When anyone said “Good morning” to Eeyore, he would respond, “If it is a good morning, which I doubt.” When he got a new tail, he said, “Sure is a cheerful color. Guess I’ll have to get used to it.” Some people live their lives expecting bad things to come from good. Others expect good things to come from bad.
The human experience is difficult. We do suffer physical and emotional pain. We are under ever increasing stress and anxiety in the fast-paced, communication and information age where everyone has immediate access to us. I love my smart phone, but there are times when I would like to throw it in a lake just to have some peace. But then I’d be anxious because I would know that I’m missing emails, texts and phone calls! 🙂 How we respond to the pressures of life says a lot about our walk with Christ. We can be complainers or we can be thanksgivers. (I think I just made up a word.)
When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and into the desert, you would think that would have been a time of great thanksgiving and celebration. They were freed from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. But as soon as they left Egypt, they started complaining. ‘Where will we find food to eat?’ ‘What shall we drink?’ ‘Are there no graves in Egypt that you brought us out into the wilderness to die?’ The Israelites lacked a heart of gratitude. It seemed like they took joy in complaining. If we are going to make the most of the life that God has given us, we have to have an attitude of thanksgiving. There will always be things in our lives that we would like to change. We would like to feel a little better. We wish this ache or pain would go away. We long for a better relationship with family, and on and on. Complaining can become a way of life. Before we know it, our complaints become part of our identity. We turn our complaints into excuses for not living life to the fullest. We allow ourselves to take on the mindset of a victim, always seeking sympathy from others for our sorry lot in life. We can’t enjoy life with that attitude.
When Naomi returned to Bethlehem from Moab after her husband and two sons had died, she said to those who recognized her, “Don’t call me Naomi, call me ‘Mara’, (which means bitter), because the Lord has treated me harshly.” Those were her opening words to those who seemed happy to see her after many years. That’s an attitude of bitterness and ‘woe is me’ that is so unattractive to the people we meet. No one wants to be around people like that. If we read the Book of Ruth, God turned Naomi’s bitterness into joy. Her daughter in law Ruth, who traveled with her back from Moab, married Naomi’s relative Boaz, and they had a son, who Naomi was blessed to serve as his nurse.” That son was named Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David, an ancestor of Jesus. What a blessing for Naomi! When Jesus asked the man at the pool of Bethesda, “Do you want to be made well?”, he responded, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” He made excuses for his poor condition, which he had been in for 38 years! You would think that his answer would be, “YES I want to be made well!” Instead, his condition was a part of who he was. He depended on it to beg alms from passersby, and I’m not sure he didwant to be made well. Jesus healed him anyway.
I recently read Corrie ten Boom’s classic book, “The Hiding Place.” Corrie and her sister Betsie had been sent to a new concentration camp in Ravensbruck, Germany, and given cramped and disgusting lodging in a barracks. They shared a bed with 3-4 other women and the entire place was flea infested; so much so that the guards would not even enter the building. They sure had reason to complain, but Corrie and Betsie rejoiced that the guards would not enter. They took hold of 1 Thess. 5:18, “In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you,” and made it their verse for the place. They gave thanks that they had been assigned to be together, that they had a copy of the Bible that the guards wouldn’t find since they would not enter, and that they were packed so close together with other women that so many would hear the Bible read. They thanked God, even for the fleas that allowed them to share the gospel. Tragically, Betsie died in that camp, but she died thankful.
We have a choice. We can grumble or give thanks in all circumstances. Let’s make it our goal to give thanks no matter what we are going through. God can provide water from rocks, manna from the sky, and fleas to drive out guards so the Word can be studied and proclaimed, even in a concentration camp surrounded by death. Complaining doesn’t change anything. But God can use someone with a grateful heart.
