–John 5: 1-15

What I Have Learned from the Man by the Healing Pool:

1. Our healing and restoration is personal.
Are there people all around us who need Jesus? Are there people who are sick, hurting, alone, discouraged, poor? Yes, then why doesn't he just fix us all at one time? Because it's about a personal relationship with each of us. A relationship that glorifies Jesus, not ourselves.

Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.
–John 5:3

2. He made an effort.
This man made an effort to get healed. I think so many times we just give up. We don't believe God can really do anything. This man was there, day after day, waiting and hoping he could get into the pool. He didn't give up. I believe even though God has given us the direction and the solution, we might miss it or our past may stand in the way. We have a hard time giving it over to God. Don't give up. Keep trying.

One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
—John 5:5

3. We can give God our excuses. He has heard them all and still provides despite them.

What an amazing God we have! Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be healed?” and instead of saying, “Yes, sure, right now, let's go for it!” he gives an excuse. God asks us all the time by offering us solutions to our issues and problems. Instead of saying, “Sure, thanks God, I will do it,” instead we give God excuses. How many more times does God have to give you a way out of a situation, show you a new door, put people in your path to give you advice and yet instead of seeing this as help, you give more excuses. What is it going to take?

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.
—John 5:7

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.
—Proverbs 15:22

4. God, if he wants to, can heal and restore us instantly.
Do you ever feel like he isn't going to heal you? Help you get out of debt, find a mate, land you that big job? God, in an instant, can change our lives. It's not a faith issue for we know what he can do. It's an obedience issue to wait for when he does. And if he doesn't, we are to serve and love him just the same.
 
At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
—John 5:9

5. God wants to help us before it’s too late.
This man had been lying there for 38 years. So let's say he started at10? 15? He is not an old man but middle-age. Some of you reading this are thinking you have all the time in the world to do some things. Oh, I can lose weight anytime, quit smoking, stop spending money I don't have or find a mate. Oh Kris, right now I am focused on my kids, my spouse and I will have plenty of time for each other later. Oh, I can get more involved with my church later. Work has to be first. . . . gotta pay the bills you know.