Paralyzed By Denial (Part 3)

The topic of being spiritually and emotionally paralyzed will be covered in a total of 4 parts. If you have not read the first two parts, I would suggest reading them first. This is Part 3 and we will be covering a root cause that many fear looking at. It’s a target to look at when trying to figure out and overcoming the problem of being spiritually and emotionally paralyzed.  Keep in mind that all of us have a tendency to look for a “silver bullet” fix and resolve our problems no matter what they might be. The truth is that life is often more complex than we care to realize and so are the problems. That being said, there are answers to resolve this problem of being paralyzed in our lives and a passage from the Gospel of John is a good example.

John 5:1-6                                                                                                                                          

Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him and knew how long he had been ill, he asked him,……..                    “Would you like to get well?”

This seems like an odd, if not rude, question for Jesus to ask but Jesus knew what needed to be asked and his questions expose our hidden problems. Without identifying our “root” issues we are just “masking” the problem, not resolving it.

Jesus doesn’t assume this man wants healing, he asks him. Secondly, this question forces the man to confront what is truly in his heart. Is he being taken to the pool because he likes the people’s sympathy?  Does he beg because he doesn’t want to work like other people?  Is he fed up with being a cripple?  Remember Jesus asked him the question because the man needed to resolve something in his heart, not just in his body. The same question could be asked of us.  Do we want to be healed of our paralysis or are we more comfortable having an excuse for our lack of spiritual growth?

John 5:7                                                                                                                                                                    

“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get there, someone else always gets in ahead of me.”

The sick man, like many of us, want to “blame” others for our paralysis.  It is far easier to blame our parents, a teacher, a divorce or any number of causes for our brokenness, but excuses doesn’t cure us and doesn’t give us the freedom Christ promised all believers.  The man wanted to lay the reason for his problem on the actions of others.  Jesus, on the other hand, doesn’t buy it. He challenges the man to grab ahold of his healing. He doesn’t feel sorry for him, he helps him.

John 5:8-9                                                                                                                                                

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your sleeping mat, and walk!” Instantly, the man was healed!   He rolled up the mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath day. 

How often do we desire “sympathy” more than a cure?  I knew a woman many years ago that was in a wheel chair for many years.  She was a kind person who loved praying for other people.  People would often would pray for her, but her healing never came.  One day a man of God known for his healing prayers was solicited to pray for her. He and others gathered believing for a miracle when the man got a word of knowledge first. He asked her is she really wanted to be healed.  Then he spoke to her in kindness and said softly, “You really don’t want healing, do you?  You like peoples sympathy too much.”  The woman broke down and admitted it to everyone’s surprise.

Finally, Jesus sees the man later and gives him both a word of knowledge and a warning.

John 5:14                                                                                                                                                       

But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” 

Often we don’t know how a person or ourselves got paralyzed, we just want healing. But God is not just looking to fix our mistake, he ultimately wants to change our life. The sick man, on the other hand, had sin as his root cause for a physical sickness that lasted 38 years!  Again, let me state that all sickness is not caused by our sin or someone else, but it could be the cause. God’s heart is to get us to the “root cause” so that our healing will not be temporary.

In dealing with root causes we have to consider that maybe the root problem in our lives is a sin problem. For some people, they think every bad break in their lives is caused by their sinfulness. This is often a lie that Satan imparted by some preacher or teacher who thought they were helping people by preaching against sin, but were not giving people hope the love and kindness of God.

Then there is the person who thinks everything is a natural problem and not a sin issue. They go to medical doctors and psychologists and therapists to find relief. If the problem is a sin issue then all these attempts to fix or cure the issue often masks the real problem……leading to more problems.  When our real issue is spiritual and moral we must discover what’s in our heart and mind that creates a place of safety for those areas of disobedience.

Sin often confines us to our stretcher, whether it be through our  bodies in being manifest in some sickness of disease or in some emotional and psychological handicap. “Sin cripples” us far more than any accident or disease.  It affects the “whole person” and often manifests itself in the natural man.  Remember you have three major parts to you life:  Body-Soul-Spirit.  These work together to make the whole person.  Get your health out of whack and it affects your spiritual life.  Mess around with spiritually corrupt teaching and it affects not only your spirit but your soul as well.

Think about the man who was crippled.  For 38 years he was forced into a lifestyle that bound his body, soul and spirit. When he met Jesus he had an opportunity to get a clean body, soul and spirit.  Instead, he choose to get healed physically and walked away with his sin intact…..like what he does with his healing.

John 5:15                                                                                                                                                    

Then the man went to find the Jewish leaders and told them it was Jesus who had healed him.

By going and telling the Jewish leaders, the sick man exposed that one of his sins was the “praise of man,” more than the praise of God.  It could be that he was some important person before his sickness and this area of pride was still in his heart.  He was “hooked” on being liked by others.  This seemed to rule his life because it was more important than betraying Jesus.  He didn’t listen to Jesus’ words, “less something worse happens” and he stepped into the devil’s trap again.

Questions:

Is “sin” the cause of your paralysis? –  1 John 1:9 is your solution.

Is your sin the “Praise of Man”? –  Pr 29:25 is your encouragement.

The next article, Part 4, will deal with worry, anxiety and fear.

Pastor Dale