Contradictions and Restraints

So the last month has been very unique. I have travelled into uncharted territory and have discovered new things about myself and others. One of the things that has come to my attention is the contradictions and restraints that exist inside us all. I am working on a sermon that was sort of inspired by a psych class of mine and by this very revelation. In John chapter 5 Jesus asks a crippled man if he wants to be healed. The man makes excuses immediately why he has yet to step into the pool and be made whole. Jesus cuts through all of the excuses and very confidently, "be healed." The man then gets up and leaves.

As I read this I realized that we have all, myself very much included, been asked several times do you want to be healed. Maybe not a physical healing and perhaps its better phrased as do you want to be made whole. Do you want to God to put the pieces of a broken heart, of forfeited trust, of poor choices, that plague your life back together? We say yes and yet inside we scream no! We claim "Jesus heal me" and yet we hang on to the pieces of our lives that need to be healed and won't let God see or touch them. We get so overwhelmed by the past, the doubts, the fears, and the insecurities. They become the excuses that we didn't get into the pool in the first place. They become our infirmity that keeps us on the shores of the healing waters just far enough that the rising tide can't reach us.

We need to come to a point where we are truly willing to lay those things aside and reach out to God or better yet accept the power in his words, "you are healed." I understand that that is easier said than done, but is it. Is it really that difficult to ignore the thoughts that plague our minds or the choices that haunt us from our past. We have become a society who are professionals at repressing other convictions and thoughts why can we not do the same to these thoughts. And when has anything we done been more powerful than even the words of God. Why do we put so much on these powerless things when we have such a powerful God. My challenge to others and to myself is to lay these things down on the shore and to pick up our beds and be healed.

More thoughts on this subject will definitely follow :)