An early morning revelation.

This morning I was reading in John 5--to be honest, I had no specific reason to be reading this particular passage, I truly just thought--"Hey, I'm gonna read John 5 today!" And of course, just as sovereign as God is, He made this passage PERFECT for me!!

John 5 is the passage of scripture that details the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda who can not walk. He's been at this for 38 YEARS! Just a side note, I could not imagine doing the same thing for 38 years to no avail and STILL continuing to do it--I believe this man had some serious faith, or nothing else to do. Either way, that was crazy to me.

So, the story continues and Jesus comes to town, passes by the pool and notices this man. In God's omniscience, He knows how long this man has been an invalid and how long he's been waiting at this pool for healing with no results. Jesus comes to the man and says " Do you want to be healed?" I love the questions Jesus asks--they are so obvious, it's amazing. The man is probably thinking to himself, "who is this guy, he has got to be joking!" At least that's what I would be thinking/saying. I digress, so the man says essentially, yes of course I'd like to be healed but no one is here to help me get to the pool and if I try someone always beats me to the punch. Then Jesus says, "Get up, take up your bed and walk!" So simple, so easy, so to the point. Man, I love Jesus.

So, I'm reading this passage and you're probably thinking, "LaRae you can walk, how is this pertinent to your life??" Well, a little background info--- I have had a rough few months. It just seems like everything in life was weighing down on me. I would say probably the only thing that wasn't was my marriage--but we're newlyweds so I guess that goes without saying. But, I have just had the hardest times with life right now. LaRae-0, Life-1. ding, next round. I felt like every time I turned a corner it was one more straw on this camel's back. Then there were moments when that "straw" was simply too much and they all came tumbling down. I was stuck under this burden, unable to move, unable to function really. Going through each day, not enjoying each day, just making it through to the next. And to be honest, I'm still kind of there at times.

So, in reading this scripture, I am the paralyzed man. I'm stuck, unable to move, unable to get to a place to heal myself or "help" myself. So, I stay here. But, I'm reading this passage and I hear God saying, "LaRae, do you want to be healed? Do you want to overcome this perpetual bad mood?? Do you want to live an abundant life instead of life living you?? I'm like, uhhh YA GOD!! The answer is so simple and God's saying in return, ok then LaRae, 'get up, take up your bed and walk!' Then here I come with the excuses, but God this, but God that, "no one is here to take me to the pool".

Boy, this struck a chord with me. God's like, LaRae stop with the excuses--I'll tell you exactly what you need to do! Talk about making you shut up! So, now I'm just going to be quiet, stop being a victim to my life and listen to what HE has to say for a change. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what it will be, but He's finally got my undivided attention and I'm ready to change! I know it's going to be hard and there may be things I have to change/quit/not participate in, so I'm ready to listen-He has the bigger picture in mind and that makes me so at peace! The only request I have is PLEASE don't make me sit here for 38 more years!!

Thank you everyone for all your prayers for us--life is good and God is too, even if we don't see it at the time or want to acknowlege it. HE IS GOOD. HE LOVES US. Such a hard conecept to grasp at times, believe me, I'm there.

We love you all so much and can't wait until the next time we get to see each of you!!

Love,

LaRae