When Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the Jewish holy days, He passed by a pool called Bethesda near the Sheep Gate of the city. He saw a crowd of sick people—blind, lame, and paralyzed—laying by the pool. They were all waiting for an angel to stir the water to get healed. Whoever stepped in first after an angel stirred the water in the pool was healed. Jesus saw a paralytic man lying there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. Jesus went up to him and asked him if he wanted to get well. The man replied, "I can't sir, for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water stirred. Someone else always gets there ahead of me." Jesus answered and told him to stand up, pick up his mat, and walk. The man believed what Jesus told him, and he got up, picked up his mat, and walked. The paralytic man was healed immediately. The religious leaders started to persecute Jesus because he healed the man during the Jewish holy day, which was against their traditions and not God's Word.
The paralytic man was hopeless and helpless on his condition. He could not move without someone else helping him. He had been sick for thirty-eight years, and no one wanted to help him. People could have easily stepped all over him or around him and did not care if he had been there for thirty-eight years. Everybody was for himself/herself. However, in the middle of his hopelessness and helplessness, Jesus showed up and healed him. Jesus healed him not because the man was rich or having a good reputation. Jesus healed him because He had compassion for Him. In actuality, Jesus told him at the end that he should stop sinning, or else something worse could happen to him.
Like the paralytic man, we were hopeless and helpless in our sin. We could not save ourselves from our sins. Jesus had to come to save us with His own life. He gave up His life so that we could be forgiven and live. In our current situations, no matter how we feel, whether we feel hopeless or helpless, Jesus is always on our side. God knows what we are going through, and He wants us to continue to trust in Him. We would never lose hope as long as our Lord Jesus lives.
Ask yourself these questions: Do I believe that God cares about me? What should I do when I feel hopeless and helpless in my current situation?
Write down all the worries that you are facing today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in heaven, thank you for being my help and hope in times of confusion, chaos, and pain. Lord Jesus, thank you for saving me even when I did not know you. Please help me to continue to trust you, especially when I am doubting. Please help my unbelief. Please help me now with (mention your prayer requests). In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.