John 5:2-9

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?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

It is all too common for us to set about resolving our situation by devising plans, however innocent, reasonable, or good they may seem. We must see here in this passage a lesson for us.

Just like the man with the infirmity, we have devised a plan for how to fix ourselves. “I just need someone to carry me to the water.” We hear Jesus voice and our first thought is how He can help us accomplish the plan, and we pray earnestly that He will help us in our plan. We forgot to pray for the root issue, but rather we pray according to our own devisings.

But, just as the man with the infirmity, we must submit to Jesus and His plan for making us whole. We must abandon our plans to go down to the pool, and instead find the pure sweetness of the mercy of Christ to us. We find true rest in His plan, even when we do not as yet know it. Submit yourself to Jesus and abandon your plans to Him, knowing that His plan is best.