Do You Want to Be Made Whole?

The world in which we live is full of hurting people, a fact we cannot escape. The worldwide statistics regarding mental illness and physical infirmity are staggering, to say the least. But why is it so? Why is so much of this pain being felt from within Church? The answer is a simple one. Disbelief. The modern church has lost sight of the healing power in the Word. Whilst many will describe the Bible as 'the manual', it is often disregarded as such. Would it be not right to imagine that the Creator would know what makes us 'tick'? Instead of looking to Him, so many of us travel from doctor to doctor, and pill to pill, and counsellor to counsellor in vain attempts to heal whatever may ail us. Instead of looking to God, we look to the world and its humanistic methods of 'healing' which, in reality, are nothing more than bandaids - and often open-up old wounds that God has intentionally shut for our betterment!


Let us take one example of healing from His Word, the healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5). It was a time of great festivity in Jerusalem, yet outside its walls lay a multitude of hurting people, gathering by the waters to receive healing. Let us contrast the scene a little further. Inside the walls, people were eating and drinking and having a wonderful time. Outside its gates, were the desperate and lowly. According to superstition, an angel would disturb the water and the subsequent bubbles would cure whomever first entered the water. There is no historical evidence to say that anybody was ever cured, despite the potential therapeutic value a natural spring may have provided, but they were desperate. Imagine that desperation, as the water bubbled and everyone scrambled to get into the water at once - the blind trying their best to find the pool, the lame scratching at the ground to reach it - it would have been an awful and pitiful scene.

But where did Jesus go? He did not attend the festival, but instead went to those who were oppressed (Luke 4:18). He came to heal, yet we are not being healed because we are not relying on His Word for that healing. For some reason we seem to believe that Faith and Counselling must be separate! Think of those people inside the gates of Jerusalem on that day - they had no thoughts of those outside - and it is the same with the Church. So many of us tend to think that small problems can be dealt with through the Word, but the really big stuff should be left to 'professionals.' We are sending our hurting people back to that same pool, palming them off to the world, which cannot deal with the core problem - the spirit. Jesus asks the man, "do you want to be made whole?", to which he replies "I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool" (verse 7) - And this is the problem precisely - true healing does not come from man. Only God can enter the bodies, hearts and minds of those who hurt, grieve and mourn and heal from within.

Modern society is so hung-up on quick fixes. God tells us to "Be still, and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10). We must let go of this notion that healing will happen overnight, and be patient. God sees every moment of our pain, as observed with the man in this story, Jesus "knew that he had been now a long time in that condition" (verse 6), but it was not until this point that his healing was given. Notice all of the people in that place, John describes a "multitude", yet Jesus only healed that one man. God works in His own time, for His own purpose. Although it is difficult to fathom, we must remember that God often allows circumstances in our lives for a reason. He is working in us to achieve something. We must have Faith, and trust in Him. Keep in mind that although this man at Bethesda was cured, we are also told that he had been suffering for 38 years! It was no overnight cure.

The Foundation of healing is the Word. When Jesus came upon that man again in the Temple, He said "sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee" (verse 14). Sin affects us in more ways than we care to admit - mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. We are to ground ourselves in His Word, and obey. Life does not get better without change. You cannot continue walking the same path and hope that things will somehow, magically get better. God requires obedience. He created us, and knows how we work in every way. Is it not feasible that His Commands are put in place to protect us? We need to follow Him in every aspect of our lives if we want change, if we want to be made whole. Throughout Scripture, we are told to cut-off sources of sin and unrighteous living, these are the things that break us in so many ways. But do you want to be made whole? This is the very question Jesus asks of the man, and many do not stop to think about how strange a question it is. Would not everyone want to be happy, and well? The unfortunate truth, is that many do not. They are happy living the pitiful life - feeling sorry for themselves, and having others feel sorry for them. Unless you are willing to be made well, it will not happen. That pattern of self-pity must be broken for healing to occur.

This story is distinct from many of the others in which Jesus healed people, in that he did not lay hands upon the man, or perform any physical action. He simply says, " Rise, take up thy bed and walk" (verse 8). What does this mean? It certainly has something to do with Faith, but there is more - let us look at it from a psychological perspective. People who do not want to be made well, play the 'Blame Game.' This will never result in them being healed. They have chosen their path of misery and do not wish to let go of it. But to take-up our mat and walk, means to leave behind all the excuses. To stop leaning on that crutch of dependance and self-pity, and move-on. Once the mat has been picked-up, it cannot be put back down or returned to. It is forsaking the old life and moving on with life, and using it as a testimony for what God has done in your life. There is nothing more powerful in ministry than the testimony of one who has been made whole in Jesus' name!

Wait on the Lord.
Obey His Word.
Flee from Iniquity.
Desire Wholeness.
Get up and Walk.
Use your Testimony to Minister.

In Christ’s Love and Service,

Rebecca Mihail, OIC Minister from the Australian Outback