Chapter 9

Stuck in a Rut

  What a heart breaking scene of personal suffering this must have been to behold . Five porches filled with sick and diseased people, wasting away and hoping against hope. Misery must have been plentiful and depression must have been dominant. To this man who had been in this case for thirty eight years Jesus poses a question, "Do you want to be made whole?" This man sick for thirty eight years responds "Sir, I could have

out of here a long time ago, but every time I get right up to the edge of the pool, they see me trying to get in, but they don't even wait. They just jump right over me and get in first.

  Every time the angel comes and I try to get to the pool somebody blocks my way. Some oversized person, some husky by-stander, some enthusiastic teenager, blocks my way. I think it's safe to say, this man was in a serious rut. TOO MANY OF US LIKE THIS MAN ARE REHEARSING REASONS TO STAY IN A RUT. We are rehearsing reasons to ourselves and anybody else who will listen to us.

We come to this text to watch a man's journey from adversity to impotency. HIS ADVERSITY led to his despondency, his despondency lead him to complacency, and his complacency resulted in his impotency.

  Painful adversity can keep you in a rut.  Setbacks and suffering can keep you in a rut.  In that massive sea of human weakness and personal suffering was a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years. The King James Version translates John 5:6 as "He had been now a long time in that case. The New American Standard says "He had been there a long time". The New International Version says "When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time". For thirty eight years he had been sick.

  I'm not sure this text says that he had been around that pool for thirty eight years, but it does say he had been in that condition for thirty-eight years. Never forget that your physical condition and your mental attitude live so close to each other that they catch each other's diseases. This man had been physically infirmed (weak, feeble and sickly) for so long that his mental attitude had also become negatively impaired.

   Write it in bold letters on the flannel board of your mental awareness that GOD HAD ONLY ONE SON WITHOUT SIN. HE HAS NO SON WITHOUT SUFFERING OR SETBACKS.  You see, adversity makes visitation to all of our homes. Adversity knows your address. Adversity knows your zip code. Adversity knows your telephone number. Adversity knows your cell phone number. Adversity knows your beeper number and your e-mail address. Adversity shows up as setbacks, hardships, disappointments, obstacles, heartaches, burdens to bear, and crosses to carry.