The fallen world offers a lens of scarcity that drives people to competition, envy, discouragement, or depression. Jesus met a paralyzed man by the pool of Bethesda who was stuck in scarcity.
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”
The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” John 5:1-7
This man had been paralyzed physically for thirty-eight years, but he was also paralyzed in his soul this entire time! He saw a place that offered him freedom from his condition but seemed unreachable to him. The pool was a place of healing for those who could be the first to jump in, but because he was paralyzed, he wasn’t able to move in quickly and get himself in the pool. He was stuck in his situation!
I wonder how resentful he felt towards others who didn’t help him. He must have felt alone and unloved because he didn’t have anyone to help him. He probably expected his own family to help him or maybe some of his friends who were healthier or stronger than him. I wonder if he even considered those other sick people whose ailment or disability wasn’t as bad as his. He could have even been angry at God and discouraged with the entire unfair arrangement because it didn’t give an opportunity for a paralyzed man a chance of healing. In his mind, there was scarcity and the odds were against him for the restoration he longed for.
Sometimes we have the paralyzed man’s attitude in life. The scarcity attitude could be in matters such as finding a mate, a tough marriage, finances, doing a specific ministry, opportunities in education, finding employment, etc. If we are to look at the situation naturally, it can look hopeless, difficult, and unending.
The problem with scarcity is that it makes us focus on people and circumstances, and it shuts off the faith valve in our lives! We either don’t see the Lord as part of the equation, or He hasn’t come through for us in the way we hoped and expected Him to. We now have become the victim of our circumstances, and we can spend years being stuck because we are focused on a seemingly impossible situation!
What area in you life do you feel stuck or a victim of your circumstances? It’s good to have a conversation with Jesus about it and ask Him to give you His perspective on it.
I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.
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