I am quite certain that if you spoke to any Christian who has understood and experienced this freedom you would hear story after story that testifies to this beautiful reality. . . The first time I experienced and understood this freedom in a real and tangible way was in Israel. I might have shared this before, but I really love this story - so bear with me as I share it again. . .
We were in Israel together with Matt's parents. There were other youth leaders from all around the world gathering together in Jerusalem for a conference - it was unreal and amazing to see so many nationalities come together and worship Jesus.
There were a few incidents that brought out the reality of my insecurity and my enslavement to other people's opinions. I was shocked to realize how much I was still controlled by those kinds of feelings. . .
And then one day we went to visit the pools at Bethesda. This is the story that recounts what happened there one day 2,000 years ago. . .
Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda, and is surrounded by five covered colonades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie - the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time he asked, "Do you want to get well?" "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. John 5:1-8
On that day I felt the power and presence and tender love of Christ in a way I had never experienced it before. There were guard rails separating us from the actual pools (which, by the way, were not filled with water). It took every ounce of self control within me to keep from climbing over the guard rail so that I could sit at the bottom of the pool. I suddenly - and very tangibly - felt healed of the insane insecurities that had controlled me for so long. It was simply amazing and completely transformational.
I wish I could take each one of you on a little trip to Israel and show you this place in person. I wish we could read the story of the healing at Bethesda and share what struggles in our own lives need the healing power and freedom of Jesus. . . But, since that is probably not going to happen any time soon, here is what this story revealed to me about freedom in Christ on that beautiful day:
1. We are never alone in our struggles. Did you notice that there were a "great number" of disabled people with this man? It is so easy to feel like we are the only ones who have failed, or who continue to struggle with sin. But the reality is that there are many among us who are facing the very same things. . .
2. It makes no difference how long you have struggled or how many times you have failed. This man was an invalid for 38 years, and Jesus still had the power - and the desire - to heal him. I think one of Satan's greatest tools in keeping us from experiencing freedom is Christ is convincing us that we've messed up too many times for way too long. . . We begin to believe that we are unworthy and just unable to actually experience healing and freedom. I hope you see that those words could not be further from the truth. It is never too late to be healed and freed and to then begin again.
3. We have no idea the great extent to which Jesus can and will heal us when we surrender to him. I have to laugh when Jesus asks this man if he wants to get well and the man responds with his frustration over never making it all the way to the pool. Seriously? Do you think he had any idea of what Jesus was about to do? This guy just wanted to get to the pool and Jesus is trying to offer complete physical restoration of his body. Our sight is so limited and our understanding of the powerful ways Christ can work in us is so narrow, isn't it?
You are not alone in your struggles - sinful or circumstantial. There is no struggle or sin too great for Jesus to heal and free you from. The healing that Jesus can and will bring goes far beyond what you can even begin to imagine.
There are still moments in my life when insecurity rears its ugly head, but I can tell you with amazed transparency that it is nothing like it was just 3 years ago. I am a different person - stronger, freer, and so much more comfortable in the skin that God knit together for me. I am what I am. . . and at the pools of Bethesda I realized something profound: I'm ok with that.
No comments:
Post a Comment