I have no man ...

‘The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” John 5:7

This section of the gospel of John recounts the story of a man infirmed for thirty-eight years. Thirty-eight years …

'Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 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?" 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. Now that day was the Sabbath … But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working."' John 5:1-17

I have heard this text preached many times and often the preacher will focus in on the reasons or excuses that the man launches into once Jesus asks Him if He would like to be healed.

That is not my focus today –
Today, I simply have a question... 

• Had he refused help all those years?
• Had he pushed everyone away?
• Did he not have one friend or family member in thirty-eight years who would assist him into the pool?
• Was there not anyone who cared enough to help him in thirty-eight years?

Perhaps you might be feeling like this man today –

• Are you facing an impossible situation?
• Do you desire help and healing?
• Have you grown weary with striving?
• Have you given up trying altogether?
• Has the circumstance lingered so long that your hope has waned and you wonder if help will ever come?

If so, take courage!
Believe again, trust again, hope again – try again! There is a Savior who stands ready to break the years of bondage just like He did for this gentleman.

Single mother –
Do you cry every Father’s Day and say, ‘I have no man …’?
There is a Man, Jesus, who will bring wholeness to that void.

Fatherless child –
Without leadership or love,
Do you cry out daily, ‘I have no man …’?
There is a Man, Jesus, who gave His life to give you a Father.

Young Woman –
Do you ache because you have had too many men?
Do you look at your life and say, ‘I have no true man’?
There is a Man, Jesus, who looks beyond your past and ushers in a bright and promising future.

Young Man –
Doing all you can to be a real man,
Left with a void because you never received guidance,
Do you silently proclaim, ‘I have no man …’?
There is a Man, Jesus, who equips and empowers and coaches you on how to be a godly man of influence and character.

Old Man, Old Woman –
Are you looking at the sun set,
Do you mutter to yourself, ‘I have no man … I have no one’?
There is a Man, Jesus, who says, ‘You still have tremendous purpose.’

Young, old, man, woman or child – There is a Man. His name is Jesus. And both He and His Father have been working up till now. And They are working still.