Hurry! Look to Jesus When You are Feeling Hopeless

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Would you like to get well? Are you feeling hopeless?

Do you have a chronic health problem that has interfered with your life for as long as you can remember? Have you carried a mental burden that makes you want to crawl into a corner and stay there? Have you sought help from doctors and counselors to no avail?

It’s tempting to become hopeless when we feel the battle has become a life sentence.

That’s the situation for the man waiting at the pool of Bethesda…

Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, He asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

John 5:1–7

Crowds of Jews gathered in Jerusalem for three annual festivals—the Passover, the Festival of Weeks/Harvest, and the Festival of Shelters. Many of them, who struggled with ongoing ailments, gathered around the pool of Bethesda waiting for their opportunity to be healed.

Imagine being this man. You’ve been ill for as long as you can remember but whenever you try to get into the healing water someone gets there before you and your wait begins again. Then, Jesus walks up to you and asks, “Would you like to get well?”

It makes me think of Jesus’ words to the woman at the well…

“If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to…” (John 4:10)

If that man had known, I believe he would have responded quickly with a resounding “YES!” Excuses about being unable to be the first one in the water would have been the last thing on his mind. His hopelessness would have turned to hope immediately.

Are you hopeful or like this man are you feeling hopeless?

Today is the day to look to Jesus. He is standing right in front of you asking, “Would you like to get well?” I am “the gift God has for you.”

Jesus knew and knows the greatest healing you and I will ever need is the healing of our souls through God’s gracious forgiveness and love. Jesus is the gift who replaces our hopelessness with hope.

Jesus heals…

“Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

John 5:8

And He says, “Trust me. I am with you. I am your Healer. I am your hope. I am the One who forgives. I am the Messiah who saves you.”

Let’s pray…

A Prayer for Those Feeling Hopeless

Father, Thank you for sending Jesus, the only true answer for our hopelessness. You offered Him as the gift that provides for our greatest need.

Because He is in You and You are in Him, He has always known the condition of our hearts and minds and how to give us what we need most. (John 14:10) Sometimes He heals us physically or mentally giving us a miraculous testimony to share. But the best hope-filled truth of all is that He always heals a humble repentant heart giving us a cure that will last for all eternity.

My frail body will fail at one time or another but once Jesus removes my sins and heals my soul Your Word tells me that I am blessed with healing that lasts forever. That’s the magnitude of Your love.

It’s hard to live with pain, Father. Physical, mental, and emotional pain can make us feel hopeless. We need You. I need You. Please help me see You as You truly are.

Your Spirit is with and within me. He reminds me that You are always present asking me if I want to get well. You invite me to pick up my mat and walk with You now and forever. Your grace is sufficient for every need and I thank and praise You with all my heart. Amen.

David wrote…

O Lord my God, I cried to You for help,
    and You restored my health.
You brought me up from the grave, O Lord.
    You kept me from falling into the pit of death.

Psalm 30:22

You and I can live with hope whatever our circumstances because we can cry out to the Lord for help trusting that He will give us exactly what He knows we need.

I know. I sound like I’m unrealistically looking at life through “rose-colored glasses.” But believe me, I’ve experienced thrilling “yeses” to my prayers and devastating “nos.” I’ve felt hopeless.

I’ve learned that hopelessness only happens when I focus on the problem. When I fully rely on Jesus, the Alpha and Omega – Beginning and the End, I can be confident that through Him I am walking the path He has prepared to my perfect heavenly home and He is walking with me giving me strength, peace, and hope. That changes everything!

So, my answer to Jesus’ question!

Yes, I want to get well! I want Him to heal me for all eternity. And I pray that when you feel hopeless, you will join me and look to Jesus. Give Him your hopelessness and say, “Yes, I want to get well forever.”

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