Charity Kivengere, Board Member, AE International

Picture a crippled man sitting at a well year after year, for 38 years, waiting to be healed. This is the story of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, a pitiful sight of a man who had become a fixture at the well, with no more hope of ever getting healed. Sadly, nobody it seems cared enough about him to try and help him.

This man’s problem had become a way of life, so much, so that when Jesus asks him, “Do you want to get well?’ He says “I can’t” and goes into reasons why this is the case.

Aren’t we like the crippled man many times, stuck in our troubled situations that have become the norm. We seem to be trapped and in a state of paralysis, resigned to crippling situations after trying so many times to deal with them and nothing has happened. This could even be an organisation, a ministry in a state of paralysis, static, even retrogressing, facing challenges that never seem to improve, perhaps like the cripple waiting for the helping hand which never comes.

Jesus’ question “Do you want to get well?” is therefore very relevant in our current and different contexts  He is asking this question because:

–  He earnestly wants us to be well “ I came that they may have life and have it in abundance”( Jn 10:10)

–  He is able to deal with our troubling circumstances however long they have been “If the Son sets you free you will be free indeed” (Jn 8:36)

–  He knows that whatever is crippling us, is stopping us from being fruitful as a person, a ministry, an organization. “ I chose you. .so that you might go and bear fruit, fruit that will last” (Jn 15:16)

Jesus is encouraging us to raise our faith this year and trust him totally concerning those matters paralyzing us.

Our answer to the Lords pertinent question should be, ‘Yes Lord I want to get well. We want AE to be well and healthy.’ To the crippled man, the Lord says, stand up, pick your mat and walk, and in faith the man believes the lord, gets up and walks, having been healed by the one who is the very source of healing. We too need to listen to the Lords instruction in our circumstances and obey him in faith.

May we search ourselves as we begin a new year and see where we are defeated and in a state of paralysis, where we are relying on the hand of man instead of looking to the Lord himself.

May we be released from any crippling situation as we respond to the Lord’s instructions in faith, so that we are set free indeed and able to go and bear fruit.

Prayer Points

  • Pray that we will abide in Christ and rest in Him for our provision and sustenance
  • Pray that we might not only bear fruit but much fruit for His glory
  • Pray that God will increase our faith that He is able, no matter what our circumstances are