Grace For The Journey

  Even in a place filled with people, we can feel all alone at times.  We may feel just like the paralyzed man lying by the Bethesda pool when Jesus showed up.  The Bible says in John 5:3-7, “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.”

Notice the words: “I have no one to help me.”  How often we feel like we are all alone, with no one to help us!  There is something the Christian always needs to remember – Jesus is always there with us and always helping us, even when we don’t know it.  Jacob realized that truth at a desperate and lonely moment in his life (Genesis28:16)  Jesus promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us no matter what the circumstances we find ourselves in (Hebrews 13:5).  Jesus is not a “fair-weather friend” who disappears when we are engulfed in the storms of life; He is with us from beginning to end.

Jesus cares about everyone, and in John chapter 5 we see just how much He cares for those who feel they “have no one to help.”  He cares about those who are alone.  He cares about those who reside in nursing homes.  He cares about those who are confined to hospital beds.  He cares about the widow and the orphan . . . and He cares about you!

If you have been feeling lonely, shift your focus to your faithful Friend who sticks closer than a brother.  Remember His words to the one who had no one to help him into the pool of water:

“Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked …” (John 5:8-9)

Whatever proverbial “mat” you may have been lying on, paralyzed by the thought that you have no one to help you, do as Jesus instructed that man to do:

Look to Jesus for strength and ability,

Knowing that you have His power and presence;

Knowing that Jesus is walking alongside of you every step of the way.

If you have placed your trust in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation, you are not alone. You never have been . . . and never will be.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”