"PITY PARTY BY THE POOL" by Millie Grams

Today's post is from Millie Grams, my step mom.

John 5:2-9...........The Man by the Pool of Bethesda

Quite often we look at this story as there are many people around us who are in need of our help, which is rightly so. However, I am going to take a different slant on this story.

Observation of Jerusalem:

....Jerusalem was a place of PEACE but there were multitudes who were not peaceful.

....Jerusalem was a place of BLESSING but there were people who were not blessed.

....Jerusalem iwas a place of HEALING and DELIVERANCE but there were people lying around in bondage.

....The name of the Pool of Bethesda translates to "house of mercy", yet people are there who have not received mercy, but rather are sick, blind, and lame.

This is the situation of many of us  today, who have proclaimed our belief in Jesus.

....we have been called to be children of God, but we insist on sitting beside the pool and are starving to death without making our move to possess what God has provided for us.

...we are in this place of mercy and deliverance but we still feel bound by our circumstances and environment.

...thought the Bible assures us that those who have been set free by Jesus are free indeed, many of us are still living blind, lame, and paralized lives. We have been lame in terms of being stuck in one place for a very long time (not a physical place but a spiritual place).

We are paralized from doing anything about our pitiful condition. In other words, we're having a "pity party by the pool" of our lives.

Verse 3:

..."in these lay a GREAT MULTITUDE of sick people, waiting for the moving of the water."...

...what are we waiting for?

...waiting for a great emotion to come over us so that we can be sure we are in the presence of God?

...waiting for our lives and health to change before we do anything for God?

...waiting for that "perfect" time to do something we are called to do?

many of us are not making any progress in life because we are waiting and having a "pity party by the pool" of our lives.

Verse 6:

"Soon another Feast came around and Jesus went back to Jerusalem".

Jesus had been in and around Jerusalem the majority of his ministry. I'm sure he must of observed the sick man many times before.

Did he just suddenly realize the man was not getting into the water?

Is it possible that he knew that at this monent in time the man seriously wanted to be healed ?

When Jesus saw him lying stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he asked, "Do you want to get well."? Jesus already knew the answer. Was he challenging the man to think and move for himself?

The man said, "I don't have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there somebody else is already in."

I don't know about you but for me I think I would of figured out a way to get into that pool in those long 38 years!

Is it possible that in 38 years he could have figured out a way to get IN the pool?

Is it possible that in 38 years, he could have convinced someone to help him get into the pool?

Is it possible that in 38 years, the man was just too depressed to do anything about his situation?

Human nature hasn't changed much in all these years. Many of us do the same thing: We live useless, broken lives, talents wasting, fires quenched, dreams dashed because we don't do something about our situations.

Jesus didn't bend down and say, "Oh, you poor, poor man. How aweful you have been here for 38 years and not able to get into the pool." He didn't judge the man, he didn't condemn the man. He just got right to the issue and said, "GET UP, take your bed and walk away." The man was healed instantly, got up, rolled his bedroll, and walked away.

I don't know "WHY" it took him 38 years to receive his healing, but I do know this:

Jesus is wanting US to stop having a "pity party by the pool" of our lives and GET UP the best way we know how and get on with our lives? There are a multitude of problems in our lives that could knock us under every single day. We have family issues, financial issues, church issues, illnesses, diseases, trials, tribulations...the list goes on and on.Are we going to just sit there and pity ourselves and do nothing? Or are we going to rise up and walk away from our pity party!

Jesus says in John 10:10, "The thief cometh to kill, steal, and destroy, BUT, I've come that they might have life and that they may have it MORE ABUNDANTLY"....that doesn't sound like a "pity party by the pool" to me. God wants to bless our lives, fill us to overflowing, heal our mind, body, and soul.

Are you ready to stop having a "pity party by the pool"?

PERSONAL TESTIMONY: While living in California, I was struck down with a horrific flareup of Fibromyalgia. To the point where I was almost completely bedridden for weeks. After about two weeks, I started feeling sorry for myself. I was unable to get out of bed without great pain and needed help most of the time. I crawled to the bathroom because the pain was so intense I couldn't stand up straight. Getting down the long hall to the kitchen area was almost impossible without horrific pain and effort. Pain and muscle spasms were my continual companions. It never let up 24/7 week after week.

One day, while lying in bed crying out to God, I begin to tell him what was on my heart. I told him I had nothing to give. How could I do anything for him while in this situation? I had always been on the go and doing for others. I was extremely active in our local church and being a caregiver, I found myself needing a caregiver. While my husband Phil worked 8-10 hours a day, I was alone with my pain and my pity party, and my dog!

As I was telling God all the things I couldn't do, he spoke almost audibly to me: "What do you have around you."? At first, I was puzzled and wasn't sure what he meant...he repeated the question to my soul several times before I got it! I began to look around my bed and my bedroom. Sitting on the nightstand was a telephone, a tablet of writing paper, a pen. On my bed, I had my laptop and my cell phone. He spoke again, "You're not helpless...you can contact people by these four things. I realized I could call visitors, could email people who needed encouragement as much or more than I did. And, I could write letters! Suddenly, my "pity party by the pool" was over. I called the church and told them I wanted names, phone numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses of people who had visited our church, those who were sick,etc. Lying flat on my back, I began to do these things. No longer feeling sorry for myself I was energized to get busy. I still was in pain, couldn't get up without great effort and pain, but my attitude had changed! No one knew I was in my PJ's and lying in bed!!!

Are YOU ready to stop having your own"pity party by the pool"?

Start moving, even if it's baby steps or if you have to crawl....get to the edge of the pool of healing and God will move in your life! I promise!