In the Gospel of John, we read that Jesus comes across a paralytic man who has been in this place of affliction for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asks this man the most important question of his life, “Do you want to get well?” The paralytic replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” The biblical account of the Pool of Bethesda tells us that an angel would go down at a certain time into the pool and stir up the water and whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease they had.

The Lord continued to reveal Himself to me through His word, through my devotionals, through others and even in my dreams, but when He oriented my attention to this story, I began to realize one overwhelming resounding theme He was speaking to my heart: “Rise Up!” The same words He spoke to the man at the pool of Bethesda; then Jesus said to him, “Rise [up!], pick up your bed and walk.” In that very moment, this man was healed, and he picked up his bed and walked.

There is significance to what was taking place here at this pool. After Jesus speaks these words to the paralytic man, He then commands the man to take up his bed and walk. He is essentially telling this man to get up and that there will be no turning back. So many of us take the first step of getting up on our feet when Jesus raises us up, but we make the mistake of continuing to carry the beds of our past and we never break free. Life continues; circumstances come against us; and we put down our bed again, lay down on it, and slip back into a paralytic state.

Jesus is telling us to get up and let it go!

What is wrong with us? For some reason we choose to journey through life on our own, without the Lord, and bounce from one sin or train wreck to another looking for that escape from the turbulence of life. Maybe this turbulence involves a relationship, a divorce, an affair, loss of a child, pride, lust, nonforgiveness or even religion; maybe its alcoholism, a drug addiction, depression, an eating disorder, or a chronic illness where a cure seems hopeless. Whatever is at the center of your turbulence, be assured you are not alone. We must come to an understanding that no matter how desperate our circumstances are we can find our answers and our hope in Jesus. Jesus healed the paralytic despite his obvious doubt and despite the fact that he didn’t even know who Jesus was. I don’t know what you are going through or why. I don’t know the plans God has for you, but reach out to Him.

What are you going through right now?

What is Jesus telling you to let go of?