Robert W. Odom Ph. D.
In Scripture, one of the stories I love is found in John 5. We see a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. We do not know why he was paralyzed, but we know he is. Jesus approaches this man and asks him a fascinating question. Do you want to be healed? What a question to ask. The reality of his condition would presume that he would want to be healed.
After all, the man had claimed a spot around the pool. Those around the pool would wait for the water to be stirred, and when the water was stirred, there was medicinal healing at that moment. Those who entered the pool while it was being stirred would be healed. I do not know how that works, but it is a reality of the story. While the question is interesting, his response is also interesting. He answered that when the pool is stirred, he has no one to help him, and others are jumping ahead of him.
As I considered this story, several thoughts came to mind. First was the length of time this man was waiting to be healed at the pool. We know he had been disabled for 38 years, but we are unsure how long he had been at the pool. I also realized that Jesus’s question was more profound than physical healing. Had the man become so used to the physical disability that he accepted it and no longer wanted to change? What about his mental condition? Had he given up? Had he begun to allow his disability to define his life? Was he at a point of hopelessness? Did he even try to enter the pool? Did his disability define him to the degree that he did not know how to live apart from his disability? It is possible that the real question was about wanting to change.
Studies have shown that change in most people does not come until they realize they want to change. For example, the alcoholic will not give up his addiction until he realizes he needs help and has a problem. Likewise, those addicted to porn, drugs, and, yes, even food, for that matter, all need to admit they have a problem and need to change. Developing a helpless outlook on life is easy because of our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual conditions.
Sometimes the most significant struggle we can have is the struggle to see that we need help. Jesus saw the big picture. The man had become comfortable with his physical disability. He was living in a comfort zone where he no longer looked for solutions to his problem. Instead, he was waiting on someone else to resolve his issue.
Sometimes we can live in our dysfunction for such a long time that it becomes uncomfortable for us to live anywhere else. We can become so comfortable in our dysfunction that we do not know how to live any other way. It scares us to seek change. It is uncomfortable to seek another way of life.
But, when we are mentally and emotionally dysfunctional, we consider the possibilities of our need to seek an avenue of healing. It begins with an honest evaluation of our needs and state of mind. How are you doing mentally? How are you doing physically? How comfortable have you become with your dysfunction? It is only when we have a truthful view of ourselves that life begins to change. Only as we understand our need for healing and healthy perspectives can we begin to see the possibilities of a new day.
So let me ask you:
- Where are you focused on the wrong thing? Where are you waiting for someone else to be the catalyst for change rather than take responsibility for your needs?
- Where have you become comfortable with your unhealthy and dysfunctional way of life?
- Where are you facing negative constructs that lack an honest view of yourself and your need for change? We must begin with a sense of personal responsibility and brutal honesty about the change we need.
- Do you want to be healed? Do you want to be well? What steps must you take to be healed emotionally, mentally, and spiritually?
- Talk with someone you trust (a friend, a relative, a pastor, or a counselor) and ask them what they see in you and where you need change. You might be surprised.
©Robert W. Odom 2023
Life on the edge 