Daily Dose #77
DON'T STAY BY THE POOL
JOHN 5:1–9 (ESV)
“Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed... One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?’”
One of the most striking details in this account is not the man's condition but how long he had been living with it. For thirty-eight years he had remained in the same place, surrounded by the same circumstances, waiting for something to change. When Jesus approached him, He asked a question that seems almost surprising: “Do you want to be healed?”
At first glance, the answer appears obvious. Of course he wanted to be healed. Yet Jesus was doing more than asking about his physical condition. He was confronting a deeper issue. After years of disappointment, frustration, and waiting, it is possible to become so accustomed to a situation that it begins to feel normal. People can become comfortable in places they were never meant to stay.
The man's response reveals where his focus had been. Rather than answering Jesus directly, he immediately explained why he had not been healed. He spoke about the obstacles, the difficulties, and the reasons he remained where he was. For years he had been looking to the pool as the answer to his problem, yet the true answer was standing right in front of him.
Many people do the same thing today. We place our hope in circumstances changing, opportunities appearing, or other people doing something different. While those things may have their place, lasting transformation ultimately comes from Christ. Sometimes we become so focused on what we think will fix us that we fail to recognise the One who truly can.
Jesus then gave a simple command: “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” The power was not in the man's ability. The power was in the word of Christ. The same Jesus who spoke life into that situation is the same Jesus who continues calling people out of places where they have been stuck.
This does not mean every circumstance changes instantly. It does mean that Jesus continually calls His people forward. He does not invite believers to remain trapped in hopelessness, bitterness, fear, complacency, or spiritual stagnation. He calls them into a life of faith, obedience, and dependence upon Him.
This truth is echoed in ISAIAH 43:18–19 (ESV) which says, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing.” God is constantly at work, leading His people forward into what He has prepared for them.
One of the dangers of staying by the pool is that we can begin defining ourselves by our struggles. The invalid had spent nearly four decades in the same condition. It would have been easy for that condition to become his identity. Yet Jesus saw more than the man's current reality. He saw what was possible through the power of God.
The same is true for every believer. Your present circumstances do not have the final word. Your failures do not have the final word. Your disappointments do not have the final word. Jesus Christ has the final word.
There are times when God asks His people difficult questions, not because He lacks information, but because He wants them to examine their hearts. The question “Do you want to be healed?” still challenges people today. Do you truly want what God is offering, even if it requires change, surrender, and obedience?
The man at Bethesda encountered Jesus and left differently than he arrived. The invitation remains the same for us. Do not settle beside the pool when Christ is calling you forward. Fix your eyes on Him, trust His voice, and take the next step He places before you.
The greatest danger is not being stuck for a season.
The greatest danger is becoming comfortable staying there.