John 5:1-15: Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'" So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?" The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.
GOD LOVES US, and we don't find Him by chance; He always pursues and finds us intentionally wherever we are, in whatever condition we are in, in whatever state we're in, whether lost, wandering, seeking, rebelling, backsliding, in darkness, in light, in trial or triumph, in sorrow or happiness, in wealth or poverty, in sickness or in health.
GOD draws us, JESUS finds us, and HOLY SPIRIT changes us and seals us as a GUARANTEE that we are HIS--GOD's.
And throughout the HOLY BIBLE, we see men and women with divine encounters and GOD moments—ordinary people touched and transformed, healed and delivered, forgiven and redeemed for GOD's GLORY and HIS PURPOSE.
GOD finds us at the right time at the right place, in every season of life. He finds us as ABRAM and SARAI in the desert spiritually thirsty and physically barren. GOD finds us as NOAH struggling to walk in faith while being surrounded by perversion, sin, and temptation. GOD finds us as MOSES complacently hiding from the world and running from our calling and our purpose and even doubting our valor, worth, and effectiveness because of past sins and fears.
GOD finds us as RAHAB, prostituting ourselves and engaging in the pleasures and vices of the world. GOD finds us as JACOB running from our lies, our mistakes, and our own family. GOD finds us as JUDAH plagued with family problems, with episodes of jealousy, death, and deception, first with respect to siblings, then with children and finally with in-laws.
GOD finds us as RUTH, a dispossessed foreigner and widow who would rather stay with an in-law than return home. GOD finds us as DAVID in the field, pasture, or cave serving or hiding and often overshadowed by others who appear greater, stronger, and more important.
GOD finds us as HEZEKIAH in all our pride, power, and glory, never suspecting that death is on the horizon and pride comes before a great fall. GOD finds us as JOSIAH, a child but a leader who must assume the throne as king and lead a nation back to its true King, GOD.
GOD finds us as ELIJAH, full of power, Spirit, and His WORD but fearful of man or woman to the point we cower beneath a tree. GOD finds us as DANIEL, captive in a foreign country, surrounded by idols, and put into a lion's den because of our convictions, our faith.
GOD finds us as THREE HEBREW BOYS persecuted for our faith and cast into a fiery furnace.
GOD finds us as VIRGIN MARY, innocent and newly betrothed, living a life ordinary and never suspecting that we are called for a life extraordinary.
GOD finds us as JOHN the BAPTIST in the wilderness, in the river of life, and in ministry proclaiming the TRUTH and preparing the way for the true SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST.
GOD finds us as SIMON, ANDREW, JAMES and JOHN, working our regular jobs, supporting our families, and fishing for the world. GOD finds us as MATTHEW, a government worker, mocked and reviled by others because of the title or authority we have or the work we do.
GOD finds us as ZACCHAEUS, someone of small stature stuck in a tree, an outsider wistfully looking in.
GOD finds us as the SAMARITAN WOMAN, scandalous and lurking alone at the well.
GOD finds us as BARTIMAEUS, spiritually and physically blind, a beggar in life.
GOD finds us as MARY MAGDALENE, tormented, oppressed, and demonized.
GOD finds us as SAUL on a road to Damascus, misguidedly working against GOD on our path of persecution, death, and destruction.
GOD finds us as JOHN on the isle of Patmos—alone and imprisoned—awaiting either death or JESUS’ return.
And no matter where we go or where our personal Bethesda is, GOD pursues and finds us. He FISHES for our souls; He ROMANCES our hearts; He RENEWS our minds; and He TRANSFORMS our lives, giving us HOPE and a FUTURE.
So, the question is not whether or not we will find GOD; the real question is whether or not we will let GOD find us.
