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Waiting for
Breakthrough
Ann
Swindell
“[Jesus] said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?’
The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the
water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.’ Jesus
said to him, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk.’ And at once the man was
healed, and he took up his bed and walked.” John
5:6b-9 (ESV)
I have been praying for healing now for over 20 years
— more than half my life.
And to be honest, I get tired of praying the same
prayer over and over, asking the Lord to heal me from a medical condition.
It’s emotionally exhausting and spiritually defeating.
I’ve prayed. I’ve fasted. I’ve seen doctors and counselors — you name it, I’ve
probably tried it. But here I am, 23 years later, still struggling.
Some days I wonder — what’s
the point? Why keep praying? Why keep hoping? Why keep asking the
Lord to heal me?
I know the Lord is more than able to heal me, but He
hasn’t — at least not yet.
So I wonder: Is it really
worth it to keep pouring my heart out to Him? To risk feeling vulnerable again?
To hope again?
The invalid we see in John 5:2-9 probably wondered the
same things. He had been an invalid for 38 years.
Thirty-eight! For nearly 40 years of his life —
perhaps all his life? — this man had been unable to walk or move on his own,
and so he spent his time waiting by the pool of Bethesda.
Why? Because occasionally the waters of the pool were
stirred, and the first person into it after the stirring would be healed.
While it seems like a crazy hope — to wait an
indefinite amount of time for just the opportunity to receive
a miracle — that’s what everyone around the pool was doing.
Waiting. Hoping. Praying that today might be the day
when the water was stirred and they could be the first one in. Praying for
breakthrough.
But this man had been waiting for a long, long time
without being able to claim the miracle as his own.
Imagine how discouraging it must have been for him to
see others healed — over and over — without receiving that healing for himself.
We all have areas in our lives where we feel that same
defeat. The struggle we’ve been begging God to fix for years and years remains
unresolved.
The job we want slips through our grasp, the
relationship we long for never materializes.
We look around, and it seems that everyone else is
getting what we are aching for — and there’s nothing we can do but wait.
Waiting is immensely painful at times. It reminds us
we aren’t in control … and it is impossible for us to change our own
circumstances.
We need the Lord to move on our behalf. We can’t get
ourselves into that pool. We can’t heal ourselves.
The good news is that Jesus always shows
up. It’s not usually in our way or in our timing, but He doesn’t leave us alone
— and He never ignores us.
The invalid waited 38 years, but the truth was Jesus
knew his story and met him at just the right moment.
As we see in John 5:6b-9, “[Jesus]
said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?’The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have
no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am
going another steps down before me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, take up your
bed, and walk.’ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and
walked.”
I’m not healed yet, but Jesus knows my story, and He
has good for me up ahead — even if my healing doesn’t come until heaven.
Jesus knows your story, too. Whether you’re waiting
for healing in your body, your mind, your relationships, your finances or
something else — you’re not alone.
Christ is with you. He isn’t ignoring your prayers. We
might never fully understand His timing, but we can trust in His love for us —
a love that took Him all the way to the cross for our ultimate healing and
wholeness.
Lord, Your timing is difficult for me to understand
sometimes, and I’m tired of waiting for a breakthrough. But I choose to trust
You again today. I believe You are at work in my life … and You will bring
about the answer to my prayer in Your perfect timing. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
TRUTH FOR TODAY:
John 6:29, “Jesus answered,
‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’” (NIV)
CONNECT:
No matter what you’re waiting
for God to change, heal or restore in your life, Ann Swindell’s book, Still
Waiting: Hope for When God Doesn’t Give You What You Want, will encourage you
in your journey toward hope and wholeness. Order it here!
Ann
Swindell is a writer and speaker
who is committed to seeing women set free by the love of Christ. She writes for
multiple publications and is the author of Still Waiting: Hope for When
God Doesn’t Give You What You Want. She has been joyfully married to Michael
for over a decade and they are raising their two blue-eyed kids in the Midwest.
Ann loves helping other writers share their stories beautifully and powerfully
through her ministries, Writing with Grace and The Writing Mom
Course. Connect with Ann here!
Proverbs
31 Ministries is a non-denominational,
non-profit Christian ministry that seeks to lead women into a personal
relationship with Christ, with Proverbs 31:10-31 as a guide.
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