Our Own Pool of Bethesda

(Christ Healing the Sick at the Pool of Bethesda by Carl Bloch)

 In John 5 we learn of the Pool of Bethesda, a special pool of water in Jerusalem where people could be healed by entering in after the water was periodically touched by an angel.

Every time I read this story, my heart aches for the man who sat waiting for 38 years to be healed, always physically unable to get to the pool on his own, despite his best efforts.  He just had to sit and watch person after person get to the water before him and be healed. (v. 7 reads: "The impotent man answered him, [Jesus] Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.")

Sometimes I feel like that in life.  Mobility has been a struggle and I've been in and out of a wheel chair for the last decade.  There have been times I've had to crawl - with everything I've got - to get to nearby essentials, like the bathroom, or food and water.  Other times I couldn't even crawl.

I haven't been healing from my surgery in October like the doctors expected, or would like.  To the point my upcoming surgery next week was threatened to be canceled, a PICC line was placed for daily infusions, and I'm on more aggressive medication. 

I see and hear wonderful, life-changing success stories from that surgery (and my next) online and I can't help but feel like the poor man trying his hardest to crawl his way into the pool and be miraculously healed, only to never make it and instead have to watch others be healed.

The story has a happy ending.  Christ comes and sees the man and his years of struggle.  He heals the man, making him whole.  Christ is the living water who heals us all, inside and out, and makes us whole.  While I try my hardest and endure man's imperfect methods of healing, I am reminded of two things: the only way to be whole is through the Savior, and that being whole has nothing to do with the state of my physical health.

May we remember we always have access to the Living Water, a power far greater than any pool of Bethesda.

Let the Light Shine (With)In

Life can be crazy.  Life can be hard. In those moments it can be difficult to see the glimmer of good twinkling down from Heaven.  But that doesn’t mean it’s not there.  Sometimes the foliage in the forest is so thick and dense that the ferns on the forest floor can’t see the bright sun shining above the treetops. That doesn’t mean the sun isn’t shining.  

Some moments in life it’s easy to see the sun shining, like in an open mountain meadow filled with wildflowers.  Other moments require more faith in the sun’s presence, like that fern.  Some life trails are mostly mountain meadows, only walking through the darkened forest briefly.  Other trails are mostly trekking through overgrown forests.  

Two universal truths remain: everyone will spend some time in the thick of it and no matter the terrain of your personal journey, the sun will always be shining down on you.

We are never alone.  God never abandons His children.  That doesn’t mean it will always be easy to see or feel His presence.  Trust, hope, and love are the tools we need to cut down just enough overgrowth to let a little  light break through the darkness.  When that little ray erupts through the dark ceiling, turn toward it, soak in the warmth on your face.

It can be easy to miss glimmers of light, they often present in small moments, in simple ways. Sharing a little laugh with another.  The bright-eyed smile of a child.  Fresh air breezing through your hair.  The grass between your toes.  The scent of a blossoming flower.  Even the absence of a greater trial.  Though the most overlooked glimmer of light, is the one shining within.

When you’re in the thick of it and struggling to see the light, look for it in small and simple places.  I promise, you will find a glint. As you continue striving to see sunshine, that glint will grow into a glimmer.  That glimmer will grow and grow until one day, you look up, soaking in the beam breaking through, lighting up the forest floor, illuminating a path into a clearing.  

Don’t give up on Heaven’s light.  It never stops shining, even in the thick of it.  The clouds will clear, the foliage will thin, the light will break through.  In the meantime, trust in God’s unconditional, perfect love for you.  Hope that a glint will soon be spotted.  Love God and those around you.  Let that love fill you and light you from within.  Heaven’s light is always shining down - and within - you, through forest thick and mountain meadow.