Day 2: Do You Really Want To Get Well?

At first glance, it seems like a strange question. Why would Jesus ask a man who had been unable to walk for thirty-eight years whether he wanted to get well?

Yet beneath the surface lies a question that reaches far beyond physical healing. It is a question about desire, readiness and responsibility. Because sometimes we can become so familiar with our circumstances that the thought of change feels uncomfortable, uncertain or even frightening.

In Day 2 of The Courage to Get Up, we explore one of the most challenging questions Jesus ever asked. As we examine John 5:1–15, we'll consider how disappointment, delay and repeated setbacks can affect our willingness to embrace change. We'll also explore the difference between wanting relief from our situation and being ready to take the steps necessary for transformation.

The man at the Pool of Bethesda had spent years explaining why he could not move forward. But Jesus was not interested in his excuses. He was inviting him to consider a different future.

This study challenges us to look honestly at our own lives. Are there areas where we say we want change, yet continue to hold on to the habits, mindsets or fears that keep us where we are?

Scripture Focus: John 5:1–15

Key Question: If Jesus asked you today, "Do you really want to get well?" how would you answer?

Join us as we explore the courage required to move beyond excuses, embrace responsibility and step into the freedom God desires for our lives.

The Courage to Get Up – From Waiting to Walking. From Limitation to Freedom.

Seek. Discern. Obey.

Thank you for joining me in the Word & Prayer Room. If this study has encouraged you, please follow the podcast and share it with someone who may be seeking God's direction. Remember, God is not distant or silent. He is able to make His will known to those who sincerely seek Him. Until next time, keep listening for His voice, keep trusting His word, and keep walking by faith. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Hello and welcome to day two of this study series, The Courage to Get Up. Remember, in day one, we explored how the environment around us shapes our thinking, expectation, and beliefs. The pool of Bethesda was more than a location. It was an atmosphere where limitation had become normal, waiting was expected, and disappointment was familiar. After thirty-eight years in that environment, we see that the man in this story had learned how to survive beside the pool. And the lesson for us is that we can become so accustomed to certain mindsets, influences, and circumstances that we stop questioning whether they should be part of our lives at all. Now we see that before Jesus changed the man's circumstances, he steps into the man's environment that had been shaping him for decades. And so as we move into day two, Jesus shifts his focus from the man's surrounding to the man himself and asks a question that reaches far deeper than it first appears. In our base texts from John chapter 5 and verse 6, Jesus asks this rhetorical question: Do you want to get well? Now, this is a question that invites the man and us to examine whether we are truly ready for the change we say we desire. So the study topic for today's session is, Do you really want to get well? It's almost a question behind the question. So we see in St. John chapter 5 and verse 6 it reads, When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, Do you want to get well? Now at first glance, Jesus' question seems unnecessary. The man had been disabled for 38 years. He was lying beside a pool associated with healing, surrounded by people who were also hoping for a breakthrough. Now most people would immediately think that this question is rhetorical because the answer is obvious. Why would someone spend so many years in that environment if they didn't want to be healed? Now, this is precisely what makes the question so significant. Because Jesus was not asking for information. He already knew the man's condition. He knew how long he had been there. He knew the limitations the man faced. Therefore, the question was not for Jesus' benefit, it was for the man's benefit. You see, what appears to be a rhetorical question turns out to be one of the most searching questions in this entire story. You see, after 38 years, healing was about far more than physical restoration. This man's condition had shaped his daily routine, his expectations, and perhaps even his identity. Remember, for most of his adult life, he had learned how to function within the dysfunction and boundaries of his limitation. His world had been organized around what he could not do. He had adapted to disappointment, adjusted to delay, and learned how to survive in circumstances that never seemed to change. This helps us understand why Jesus asks the question. Because he's not simply addressing the man's condition, he is confronting the possibility that the man may have become, listen to this, accustomed to life as it is. Take a moment and just think about that. This man may have become accustomed to life as it is. Most people would say they want change. We want healthy relationships, stronger faith, greater freedom, better habits, and different circumstances. We pray for breakthrough and ask God to intervene. Yet wanting change in theory and being prepared for change in reality are not always the same things. Real change often requires us to leave behind things that have become familiar. It can challenge long-held beliefs, expose fears, and create uncertainty. And it's interesting that even when our current situation is unfamiliar, there's often a strange sense of security in what we know. You see, familiar disappointment can feel safer than unfamiliar possibility, because at least we know how to function in the disappointment. And I believe this is one reason why many people sometimes remain stuck in patterns they no longer enjoy. It's not always because they lack desire. Sometimes it's because they've spent so long adapting to their circumstances that they struggle to even imagine themselves living differently. Longer a condition remains, the easier it becomes to build our identity around it. The man's response to Jesus reveals how deeply this can happen. Jesus asks whether he wants to get well, but see what the man says, he doesn't answer directly. Instead, he explains why he has not been healed. Did you see that? He said in verse 7, Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I'm trying to get in, somebody else goes down ahead of me. It almost sounds like a defensive response. And you know, his answer is understandable. 38 years of disappointment will affect the way anyone thinks. Yet his response also reveals that his focus has become fixed on the obstacles. You see, he knows exactly why things have not changed. He can explain the barriers, the limitations, and the reasons for his situation. What he's struggling to imagine is a future beyond them. It's interesting that many of us do the same today. We become experts in explaining our circumstances. You see, we know what went wrong, who let us down, and why progress has been difficult. And those explanations can become so familiar that they shape our expectations. We stop expecting much because disappointment has taught us to be cautious. We lower our hopes to protect ourselves from being hurt again. We settle into managing the problem rather than believing that transformation through Christ Jesus is possible. The deeper challenge of Jesus' question is not whether the man desires healing, it's whether he's willing to embrace a different future. Jesus is inviting him to consider a reality beyond the one he has lived with for decades. You see, before the miracle takes place, Jesus challenges the assumptions that have developed through years of waiting. And this is why the question still speaks so powerfully today. It invites us to examine whether we have become familiar with things that God intends to change. It challenges us to consider whether disappointment has somehow lowered our expectations. It asks whether we have accepted as permanent something that God still has the power to transform. The question sounds simple, but I believe it reaches deep into the heart. Do you really want to get well? I'm not talking about relief here or comfort or a slight improvement. This question, do you really want to get well, speaks of supernatural transformation. So here are three things we can take away from today's study. Number one, Jesus' question was not seeking information, it was inviting honest self-examination or self-reflection. Number two, long-term disappointment can cause us to adapt to circumstances that God intends to change. And number three, real transformation often requires us to let go of identities, expectations, and patterns that have become familiar. Now, here's a different application, and this is really designed for people who are ready like that man to get up, pick up their mat, and walk, get out of the Bethesda environment. So we know that many people live with what we call the Bethesda syndrome. I say we call the Bethesda syndrome, I call it the Bethesda syndrome, and that is remaining in a place of struggle for so long that it becomes difficult to imagine life beyond it. Now, one of the reasons that this can persist is something that I also call faith shame. Faith shame is that quiet belief that as a believer we shouldn't be struggling with certain thoughts or certain emotions or challenges. And it somehow convinces us to keep things hidden because we fear that admitting our struggle somehow reflects a lack of faith and a falseness about our Christianity. The reality is really that secrecy often strengthens the very thing God wants to heal. It creates a stronghold. You see, what remains hidden rarely gets challenged. And one of my sisters called Angela taught me something years ago that I've held on to to this day. She said to me, Whatever we confess to the Lord, the enemy cannot have control over us. And I'll never forget that. So here's this challenge with the difference. It's not about taking time out to think and write. This one requires boldness. So take some time to think about this application over the next three weeks or few weeks, and identify one area of your life where you may have become stuck in a Bethesda mindset. Now, this could be an ongoing disappointment, a fear that you've never addressed, a recurring negative thought pattern, a relationship issue, a spiritual struggle, or an area where you have quietly stopped expecting change. Now here's the challenge. Choose a trusted and spiritually mature people, a prayer partner, a mentor, a pastor, or a close Christian friend and share something specific about that area. Now, here's what's even more powerful about this. We're not asking you to share the edited version, the sort of headlines that doesn't go down into the detail, but it's to really share from your heart what you genuinely think, feel, or fear about that area that you've chosen. Now it's important to select the person that you confide in wisely. There should be someone who can listen without judgment and without bias, someone who can keep confidence, who won't be on the phone after you finish your call or after the meeting to say, or can you pray with me? I've just had this talk with Sister Sylvia and she's going through that. We don't want that type of person. We want someone that can maintain confidence, someone who can speak truth with grace and pray with faith. Now, this conversation will require vulnerability, and we know that vulnerability requires trust. Then it's asking them what they see in you that you may not see in yourself. So it's not just about telling them about the area, but you're asking for their feedback. So asking them what they see in you that you may not see in yourself, asking whether they've noticed any assumptions, any beliefs or patterns that they believe could be holding you beside your pool of Bethesda. And ask them to be open and honest with their feedback, even if it feels uncomfortable. You know, in the work that I do, I've come to realize that very often others can recognize limitations in our thinking that we've stopped noticing ourselves. And in this context, I truly believe that feedback is a gift. And then the final part of this is to spend time praying together, not simply for God to change the situation, but for him to reveal anything that has become normal in your thinking that he wants to transform. Ask him to replace fear with faith, resignation with expectation, and survival with hope. Now let me say again: this exercise will take prayer, faith, and courage. Prayer because true transformation begins with God. Faith because you're choosing to believe that change is possible. Courage because it takes courage to bring hidden struggles into the light and allow someone else to walk alongside you. So let's close today with this prayer. Remember that we've been focusing on this rhetorical question: do you want to get well? Do you really want to get well? And I pray that this has been a really deep, searching, insightful study that will really speak to your heart just as it's speaking to mine. So, Heavenly Father, how we glorify and praise and honor your holy name. Father, you are the rock of ages. You are the everlasting Father, you are the Prince of Peace. There is nothing that you don't know about us. Oh Father, we thank you, Lord, that you bring us light in darkness, that you bring us your Rhema word to show us the way that we should go. That, Father, you speak to us and into our situation through the entrance of your word that brings light. Thank you for asking the questions that reveal what is really happening in our hearts. Help us to recognize where disappointment has shaped our expectations and where familiarity has caused us to settle for less than you intended. Father, you've created us as the head and not the tail, as above and not beneath. But Father, many times these are words that we say, but in reality we struggle to embrace and to believe. There is nothing impossible for you to do, even in areas that have remained unchanged for a long time. Father, we pray that you will teach us to trust your power more than our past experiences and our current circumstances. And we pray that your promises will be more evident in our lives and more obvious than the limitations we may be surrounded with today. Oh Father, we give you glory and we thank you in advance for all that you're going to do through this study and through the steps that we take so that the areas of our life that are stuck, Lord, will become released, transformed in the name of Jesus. Father, we thank you that you hear us when we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, I trust that you've been as blessed as I have been in this devotion, and we're looking forward to meeting you in day three. Stay blessed.