When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” John 5:6
Anyone who has ever counseled another person knows how important it is to have the person engage in the process. So you say, “I’m ready to walk with you, but I need you to engage.”
We depend on something coming from within the person for progress to be made. The counselor gives light, direction, and encouragement, but we do not have the power to change another person’s life.
If a person does not want to get better, loved ones can do very little to help him or her. Many of us have discovered this in our own families. That is why we sometimes say, “God helps those who help themselves.” This makes sense to us because the only people we can help are the people who are ready to help themselves, and we assume that this is also true of God.
Notice, this man is so overwhelmed by his own problems that he does not even answer Jesus’ question: “Do you want to be healed?” The man responds by telling Jesus: “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up…” (5:7). “Life is never going to be different for me, Jesus. I had hopes and dreams of what my life might be, but it isn’t going to happen.”
Do you hear an echo of your own voice here—something that was done to you, someone who let you down, your journey to a hopeless place? If someone asked you, “Do you want to be well?” how would you respond?
