Get Up and Walk Away

Chronic illnesses are debilitating. When you have a chronic illness, you find yourself needing to factor it into every decision you make. You can't just wake up in the morning and go about your day like everyone else. You may have to decide to decline from certain activities because of the pain. You may have to avoid certain foods and drinks because of potential reactions. You may need to set your schedule around bathroom breaks for those unexpected moments. And you may even need to factor in rest breaks because the fatigue is so bad. It's terrible, but you learn to live with it. You learn how to cope. You learn how to push yourself through life. But you certainly aren't free, and you probably aren't enjoying your day as much as you'd wish.

Likewise, chronic spiritual issues can suck the life right out of you and limit you, as well. Living with Fear, for example, can feel like it's attached itself onto your back and chest like two bags of bowling balls. It's debilitating as it pulls you down and even paralyzes you. It yells, "Danger!" in every situation you're in. It scares you from pursuing your dreams. It keeps you from moving forward. No day is a good day when you live with Fear. From the moment your eyes open in the morning, until they close at night, you never stop living on the defense - and in turn you never start living on the offense against it. You learn to cope, but you're certainly not free.

Or how about Depression? It's like a deep black hole filled with quick sand. Everyday is a fight to stay on the surface of it. You stop saying yes to things in your life because you are too busy keeping yourself from sinking. You feel like you have nothing to give out to others because all your strength is focused on just making it through another day. You learn to cope, but you're certainly not free.

And Anxiety. Oh gosh. Anxiety. He's the meanest. He couples himself with Fear like they're best buddies. Anxiety will never let you rest. It's like a drill sergeant that never lets up for a minute, never giving you a moment of peace. Even when there is nothing to worry about, Anxiety gives you things to worry about, even imaginary things. It won't let your mind power-down, even at night. It comes as a thief - taking and taking but never giving anything in return. When you live with Anxiety, you're never really living in the moment. You're never given a chance to enjoy life and the things God has given you. Again, you learn to cope, but you're certainly not free.

The weird thing is, for those that suffer with these chronic spiritual issues, we may stop imagining life without them after awhile. We feel like these parasites have become part of who we are. They may even start to define us: "Well, you know, I'm just an anxious person." It can strangely become a love/hate relationship. In some kind of twisted way, they become old friends and become the excuse we use when we say no to life's adventures, challenges, responsibilities, joy, and fun.

It makes me think of the lame man at the pool...

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 he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” 

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” 

Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! 

‭‭John‬ ‭5:1-3, 5-9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

http://bible.com/116/jhn.5.1-3,5-9.nlt

This man (and probably many others lying next to him) had been sick for sooo long that he probably stopped imagining life without his chronic issue. It became his lifestyle. Though he probably would never have wanted to admit it, he may have even stopped genuinely desiring to be healed/changed. He learned how to cope, but he certainly wasn't free.

Ya know, I think Jesus still asks the same question when He comes to us who are suffering with chronic issues: "Would you like to get well?" In part, it's like He's saying, "This doesn't have to be the end of your story, you know. I can offer you a life beyond this pool that you suffer near everyday."

See the question is not whether Jesus has the power to set us free. (By His Stripes we are healed and we overcome by the Blood of the Lamb.) The question is whether we want to take Him up on the offer and let Him set us free. He is absolutely willing, but His hand is extended and asking if we are. And if we are willing, then the hard part is not on us, but on Him. Our job is to believe Him. His job is to give us Life and set us free. Then we, too, can pick up our mats and walk away from that pool that we've lingered around for far too long.