"Do you...?"

 “Do you want to get well?”                                                         John 5.8b

Jesus is the divine healer. He can truly heal anyone. This may not always be God’s plan but we know that the power of God is so great that He can heal anyone should He so choose.

But Jesus asks this interesting question, “Do you want to get well?” and I see great truth in it.

Healing is a gift and, like any gift, for it to be fully effective it must be received. The recipient of healing must want to get well. Is this, perhaps, a silly question, a redundant question? Not necessarily.

Sick people often receive a lot of attention which they would not get if they were not sick. Sometimes the only contact (or the most meaningful contact) a sick person has with others is with the people who tend them in their sickness. To be faced with the question “Do you want to get well?” can be extremely challenging. The wellness could eliminate further need for attention thereby removing valuable contacts from the life of the formerly sick person.

Of course that person is released, in the fullness of health, to seek out new – and healthy – friendships. But this may not come into their thinking when faced with the “challenge” of healing. Yes, for some, the possibility of getting well could be most frightening.

Lord,

I pray for those who are sick and for whom the possibility of healing is a frightening prospect.

I pray that such people might look on the gift of healing as entry into a truly new life. In wellness is opportunity to make new friends and do new things. Wholeness brings an enabling to join in activities that previously may have been too difficult.

I pray for those in sickness that they might realize the gift of healing is accompanied by other precious gifts leading into fulfilled new life. Hallelujah!              Amen.