Getting Our Minds Right

The fifth chapter of John tells the story of an afflicted man whom Jesus encountered. This particular man had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years. As he lay by the Pool of Bethesda, he watched other people see their dreams come true. Every now and then, an angel would come and stir the water in the pool. Immediately afterwards, the first one who got into the pool would be healed of whatever problem he had.

One day Jesus came to that pool and saw the man lying there. “ Do you want to get well?” Jesus asked him. “I can’t get into the water and nobody will help me,” the man answered. Jesus said to the man, “Get up, take your mattress and walk.” Immediately the man did what Christ said. He simply got up and walked away. (See John 5:1-9)

Before the paralyzed man was healed, he had to come face to face with a question that almost seems bizarre on the surface. “Do you want to get well?” Jesus asked him. “Do I want to get well?!?” the man might have asked. “What kind of question is that? Of course I want to get well!”

That’s not what he said. Instead he began to explain why being well was outside the realm of possibility for him. Somewhere along the way, his dream of ever walking again had died. Jesus, however, is in the business of resurrecting things that have died. With loving compassion, He simply said to the man, “Get up.” Inherent in His word was both the motivation and the ability for the man to finally do what his heart had yearned to do for years – to walk.

What dreams lie dormant inside your heart that were once alive and vibrant? It is important for you to realize that those dreams may be the voice of God’s will within you nudging you toward rising up and fulfilling His plan for your life. What would you do if Jesus said to you today, “Get up and do it”? How long have you watched other people’s dreams come true while you lay on the sidelines?

Abby FitzPatrick is one of my heroes. The thing you may find surprising is that she is only eleven years old. Abby has a rare disease called Mitochondrial Disease. Mitochondria are powerhouse of each cell and are responsible for converting substances from the foods we eat into energy for essential cell functions and the cell functions in turn run all of the organs and systems in our bodies. The process of converting food into that energy requires hundreds of chemical reactions, and every one of them has to run almost perfectly in order to have a continuous supply of energy. When one or more components of these chemical reactions don’t run perfectly, there is an energy crisis, and the cells can’t function normally. As a result, there is not enough cellular energy to run the essential systems in the body - such as the heart, liver, kidneys, digestive tract, muscle and brain. It is a serious disease, to say the least.

Abby is an amazing girl, animated by divine power. She is in the Beta Club. As her energy allows, she swims and runs and plays like all eleven-year-old girls. This year she was on the volleyball team at the local YMCA. She knows how serious her health problem is, but has decided to live every day to the fullest degree possible.

Sometimes when I’m dealing with the routine frustrations of life, I think about Abby. I wonder what kind of day she has had. I’m reminded of how she handles the hard days and I think to myself, “Life is too short to sit on the sidelines. If Abby can run the race with gusto, despite her challenges, I have no excuses.” So I shake off my petty attitude and determine to move ahead with faith and hope.

Are there any good excuses you have for not running the race with gusto? You’ve had some debilitating things happen in life? Okay, so what are you going to do now? You may think your situation is “sick,” but you have divine life pulsating through you. It’s who you are. Don’t let yourself get bogged down by your circumstances. They don’t define you. Your Creator has defined who you are and He says that you have been created as somebody who is filled with divine potential.

Maybe you’ve been set on the sideline, seemingly handicapped by life’s circumstances. Here’s the question you must answer: Do you want to be well? Some people don’t. To be well means they would have all their excuses taken away from them. They wouldn’t be able to blame their circumstances anymore. They could no longer say that other people were at fault.

To be well, they would have to assume full responsibility for rising up and stepping out in faith to do God’s will. It would be them and Jesus. They couldn’t play the role of a victim anymore. No more excuses. No more delays. Do you want to be well?

You can be well. God’s will is most definitely for you to know and believe this fact – It’s your turn! Your day has come! Jesus is speaking to you right now. Deep inside you something is stirring. It is a hope that all this might be true. Well, it is.
Your day has come because God is faithful to His promises. “Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside!” wrote the hymn-writer. If you will believe in your Father’s goodness and in His desire to lead you into fulfilling His will, your life can change. Will you appropriate the ability to fulfill God’s will for your life because of what Jesus has done?

Maybe something inside you needs to change if your are going to “rise up and walk.” The longer you have laid on the sidelines and meditated on your own pitiful condition while others walked onward, the more necessary it is for you to change the way you think. You must reset your “internal thermostat” in order to believe and receive what your generous Father has in store for you. Sometimes you need to retrieve what you know to be true. Do you want to realize the wonderful potential that God has planned for you? He will enable you to get up and go.

(This article is an excerpt from my book, Walking in the Will of God)