Healing Is Possible II ...

Friday, May 16, 2014. We heard about the paralysed man in John 5 yesterday. We should not just think, that it is a story which happened long ago. It is a story about us and about Jesus! We are the paralysed man.

Where are we paralysed? …

Sometimes we think very concrete, and that is good. Perhaps we ARE paralysed, we have some physical disability. We are like this man, and we long for healing - perhaps we are ill already for quite a while, and it is not changing. This is the situation of this man. We are him.

But there is another level of meaning here. We are paralysed in the spiritual sense. We are not able to move, since we are “dead in our sins”. We live in a way which God calles “dead”. We think in a way which he calls “dead already”. We feel and hope in a way which he calls “dead”. Unfortunately that is our reality.

We are dead because we have lost the connection to eternal life. We are dead because we hope for things within this world, but not for the real things. We are dead because we do not know full truth, and full love is not within the range we can reach.

Myself …

I can identify many things in MY life where the biblical description fit quite well. Often I long to be free for the love of God, and find myself looking towards quite worldly goals - the applause of people, but I neglect the applause of the most high.

I know the suffering of many people, millions, even billions. But I am completely busy with caring for myself and my family (also a challenging task, indeed). It is good to care for the people around you, for those you love - everything for it and nothing against it. But there is so much more which should not be forgotten!

I am glad that salvation comes by grace. I would not earn it, I am afraid. I try to change things, and many of my efforts are just gone after one or two days, some after hours or minutes. But I experience his unbelievable patience. Each single time I turn to him, he helps with his spirit and his wisdom and love. And I do little steps (tiny indeed) into the right direction. I am not at the goal, but I am on my way. I would call that a spiritual pilgrimage.

Sometimes the little things are the big things. To feel real joy about the right things - that is a tiny step, a step for this moment, and yet it will shake the heaven and the earth if it can become reality in your life! And right in this moment, healing is possible, a step of healing for my heart …, yes! (Roland Potthast) ... more texts