1698 God’s Not Limited

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

How much longer must you wait? Really, doesn’t it seem almost ridiculous at this point?

I know after waiting for years and seeing absolutely nothing change, it becomes almost hard to pray about it. Is that where you are? You’re struggling to even pray for that person or this situation that you so desperately want to see change. It seems impossible at this point and honestly, almost cruel to keep having to ask and be denied over and over again.

So what do you do here in this place where hope seems to be pointless? What do you do when you’ve prayed all the prayers? What do you do when every sense of reality would tell you it hasn’t worked and it won’t work?

Answer: LOOK FOR JESUS.

In our wait, we’ve become so fixated on possible solutions and promised next steps that we’ve overlooked the fact that only Jesus is going to change this, fix this, restore this, or make sense of this, my sister.

Yes, go to therapy. But it’s not your therapist that will not save you. That’s what Jesus does.

Yes, get treatment. But the treatment will not heal you. That’s what Jesus does.

Yes, talk to a professional. But the professional will not fix this. That’s what Jesus does.

In the Bible we read about a place where sick people gathered seeking healing. One day, Jesus shows up on the scene and no one comes to him. No one even notices he’s there. Everyone is so fixated on the water they thought they needed and were missing the only One they truly needed.

John 5: 2-9: 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 38 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.”

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking.

This pool of Bethesda is the House of Mercy and Grace. Now, we know the boiling up of this water was likely a hot spring. These were warm waters that would bubble up, filled with vitamins and minerals, known still to this day for their healing properties for our bodies. Would it heal a man who had been unable to walk for 38 years, probably not. That’s a job for Jesus.

And where Jesus is needed, Jesus shows up!

Here, the sick had gathered in hopes for healing. But, this man had become hopeless because he believed only the first one in the water when it bubbled would be healed, and he had no way of ever being first. So, he lay there and nothing ever happened for him.

I watched this story on The Chosen yesterday and I saw something I had been missing. I watched as this man tried and tried, yet never made it. I watched him try to position himself close to the water to get there first, yet someone always jumped in before him. I watched as he grew more hopeless, and eventually he stopped trying. Stopped believing. Eventually he believed he would never be the favored one to receive his healing.

Isn’t that how we sometimes feel after seeing others get their breakthrough, but never us? We’re not the favored ones. It will never be us. Our prayers are never answered.

But Jesus wants you to hear him today as he says, “My girl, you are my chosen one! I don’t require any magical waters or mystical timing. I am the only thing you need, and I’m right here.”

I know you don’t feel favored because you’re still waiting, but you are highly favored by God Almighty! Ephesians 2:8-9, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” You’re not favored because of what you’ve done or haven’t done – you’re favored because of God’s grace that has covered you. Girl, you can’t undo that!

Jesus delights in healing us! He’s absolutely giddy to show up and save you! He’s passionately pursuing you for your encounter of faith. He hasn’t forgotten you. He hasn’t passed by you. He’s pursuing you.

And here, in this encounter of faith, Jesus will ask you to believe him without limits. That’s what he asked of this sick man laying on the porch who had lost hope. He asked him to believe God’s help is not limited. It’s not limited to how it’s always been. It’s not limited to how everyone else has received it. It’s not limited to what you think it has to be.

This man believed the only way he would be healed was to be the first one in the water when it bubbled. But Jesus didn’t even use the water to heal him. NOT AT ALL. THIS MAN WAS COMPLETELY DRY! Jesus asked him to believe in the impossible, and believe it so much that he would attempt to do the impossible before he had proof it was possible.

Maybe that’s what’s happening here for you today. Is Jesus asking you to believe him for what has been impossible? Is Jesus asking you to get over how you have always thought it would happen, everything you’ve researched, everything you’ve heard, and every plan you’ve made … and be so bold in your faith to TRY IT WHEN HE SAYS IT?

God’s help, God’s healing, God’s restoration, God’s blessings are NOT LIMITED. We’re dealing with a totally unlimited God. Girl, take God out of your box.

Maybe you’ve put all your hope in one thing, but it’s the equivalent of this mysterious bubbling water … nothing more than a hot spring. You don’t need a hot spring, you need Jesus.

Lord, forgive us for getting so fixated on the solution to our problems that we overlook YOU. You are our only solution. WE NEED YOU.

He is the answer for your broken heart. He is the answer for your worry filled mind. He is the answer for your failing marriage. He is the answer for your overwhelming bills. He is the answer for your family. He is the answer for your business. He is the answer for your health. He is the answer for every question you have. It is Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus, for pursuing us. Thank you for your favor that chooses us over and over again. Not because of anything we have done, but because of WHO YOU ARE!

If you’re asking us today if we want to get well, our answer is yes. If you’re asking us today if we want a real solution to our problem, our answer is yes. If you’re asking us today if we really want healing, restoration, and breakthrough, our answer is YES!!!!! Yes, Lord, we do. (Now, stop right there and consider that … do you really want it, or are you just saying that. Some of us are addicted to the drama. Some of us have attached to being the victim. Some of us wouldn’t even know who we are without our problem. Do you really want to get well? God’s not into lip service – he sees your heart.)

If you really want it, then here’s what you do next: Let you faith move you to action. If Jesus says it, girl, then try it!

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