Sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 “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.” 8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
John 5:1-9
The phrase in this great healing account that haunts me is “No one will help me.”
Granted, the man was putting his hope in a pool that sometimes bubbled up from an underground spring. Legend was that first one in gets healed. But this man had no one to help him.
Makes me wonder how many people I interact with every day who have no one to help them find healing. Healing for their soul, their marriage, their family or their past.
Take time today to ask someone “What’s the biggest challenge you’re facing right now?” Then just listen. When they are done, let them know you’ll be praying for them. Then in a few days ask them how they are doing.
As you fast from something for someone, pray this prayer.
Jesus, let me be the one to help someone find you.
Who are you helping?
“What’s your biggest challenge your facing?” Then listen.