It's Your Season

IT’S YOUR SEASON

JOHN 5:1-15

ECCL. , THE PREACHER, TELLS US THERE IS A SEASON FOR ALL THINGS. WE UNDERSTAND WHAT THIS MEANS, AS CHRISTIANS. WE HAVE LEARNED THROUGH THE YEARS EVERYDAY OF OUR LIVES ISN’T GOING TO BE PERFECT. THERE ARE THINGS THAT HAPPEN WE HAVE NO CONTROL OVER. GOD, WE HAVE LEARNED, IS IN CONTROL OF ALL SITUATIONS, AND WE HAVE LEARNED THAT WE MUST ALLOW GOD TO DO HIS THING. FAITH GIVES US THE STRENGTH TO ENDURE LIFES TEMPTATION, LIFES HARDACHES, AND PAIN—SUFFERING, DEATH, SICKNESS, HARASSMENTS, TOIL AND TROUBLE, ARE SEASONS EACH OF US MUST FACE. THOSE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND THIS THINKING.

JUST THE OTHER DAY MY FATHER TOLD ME, DON, THIS IS MY SEASON...HE SAID, I DIDN’T KNOW IT WOULD COME THIS FAST, BUT IT IS HERE. DAD KNEW LIFE WAS COMING TO AN END, AND HE ACCEPTED THAT; BECAUSE HE UNDERSTOOD THE WORKINGS OF GOD.

MY FRIEND OSELL WALKER, A GREAT BASEBALL, AND BASKETBALL PLAYER, LOST BOTH OF HIS LEGS TO DIABETIES...HE TOLD ME—SIB., WE HAD A GREAT LIFE GROWING UP AND I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY GOD WOULD ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN TO ME...I TOLD HIM, BIG O, IT’S YOUR SEASON; MINE IS COMING, AND I KNOW IT IS, SO ENDURE WITH THE HELP OF THE LORD. I TOLD HIM SEASONS, ARE JUST TEMPORARY THOUGH...WHEN YOU KNIOW THE LORD...SUMMER TURNS TO FALL...FALL TURNS TO WINTER...WINTER TURNS TO SPING...AND SPRING BACK TO SUMMER. IT’S ALL PREARRANGED BY AN ALL KNOWING, AND AN ALL PRESENT GOD...WHO CANNOT MAKE A MISTAKE, AND HE NEVER FAILS. SO THE ONES AT THE POOL WAITED FOR THE SEASON, GOD WOULD SEND THE ANGEL TO STIR-UP THE WATERS. A DUE SEASON; A RIGHT SEASON; YOUR SEASON.

JESUS HAD JUST LEFT GALILEE...HE HAD JUST LEFT CANA...HE HAD JUST HEALED THE NOBLEMAN’S SON, AND HE IS ON HIS WAY TO JERUSALEM FOR THE FEAST. NOW THERE IS IN JERUSALEM, BY THE SHEEP MARKET A POOL, CALLED BETHESDA. THIS POOL IS WHERE THE SICK, THE LAME, THE HALT, THE BLIND WOULD GATHER BY GREAT NUMBERS, JUST SO THEY COULD BEG THOSE WHO ARE JUST COMING INTO TOWN, AND MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, WHILE THERE AT THE POOL THE ANGEL OF THE LORD WOULD COME BY AND STIR UP THE WATER OF THE POOL. FOR YOU SEE, EVERY NOW AND THEN, AT THE RIGHT SEASON....GOD WOULD SEND HIS ANGEL TO STIR UP THE WATERS...WHICH GAVE THEM HEALING POWERS...AND WHOEVER WAS THE FIRST TO ENTER THE WATER, AFTER THEY HAD BEEN STIRRED UP, WOULD BE HEALED OF THEIR CONDITION, NO MATTER WHAT IT WAS. AS JESUS WAS PASSING BY, HE SAW THIS MAN WHO HAD BEEN LAME FOR THIRTHY-EIGHT YEARS, WHO HAD BEEN BEGGING BY THE POOL, WAITING FOR HIS OPPORTUNITY TO BE THE FIRST INTO THE WATERS AT BETHESDA, BUT THE OPPORTUNITY NEVER PRESENTED ITSELF.

THEN, HE MET JESUS. JESUS ASKED THE MAN “WILL THOU BE MADE WHOLE?” I IMAGINE, THE MAN THOUGHT FOR A MINUTE...WHO IS THIS MAN, WITH THIS STUPID QUESTION? YEA, I WANT TO BE HEALED...CAN YOU HEAL ME? I GUESS, THE MAN THOUGHT ABOUT, IF HE WAS HEALED, HE WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO BEG ANY MORE, AND HOW WOULD HE EARN A LIVING...I QUESS, A LOT OF THINGS WENT THROUGH HIS MIND, BUT IF THERE WAS A CHANCE TO BE MADE WHOLE...WHY NOT TAKE THE CHANCE...SO THE MAN TOLD JESUS...SIR, I’VE BEEN LAYING HERE ALONG TIME, AND I HAVE NO MAN TO PUT ME INTO THE WATERS, WHEN THEY ARE TROUBLED; AND JUST WHEN I ATTEMPT TO GET INTO THE WATERS, SOMEONE ALWAYS BEATS ME IN...NOW, AIN’T THAT JUST LIKE US. BEEN SEEING OLE BLUE, AROUND THE CORNER, DRUNK, DIRTY AND NASTY, DOWN IN THE GUTTER FOR 20 YEARS OR MORE...NEVER DAWNED ON US THAT OLE BLUE, MIGHT BE TIRED OF BEING, IN THE SHAPE HE’S BEEN IN FOR SO LONG...NEVER DAWNED ON US THAT GOD HAS PROSPERED US, SO WE CAN HELP OLE BLUE GET ON HIS FEET, AND OFF THE GROUND WHERE HE HAS SPENT SO MANY YEARS...NEVER DAWNED ON US, THAT THAT MAN COULD HAVE BEEN US, EXCEPT BY THE GRACE OF GOD...THERE GO YOU OR ME.

THERE ARE A LOT OF OPPORTUNITIES THAT COME OUR WAY TO HELP...AND ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS LIFT A HELPING HAND, BUT WHY WON’T WE? I’LL TELL YOU WHY NOT...I GOT MINE...OLE BLUE HAD A CHANCE TO GET HIS...IT’S HIS, FAULT THAT HE DIDN’T GET HIS...I FEEL SORRY FOR HIM...BUT. I TELL YOU TODAY THERE IS A PLACE IN YOUR HEART CALLED BETHESDA...IF YOU JUST LOOKED FOR IT? DO YOU KNOW WHAT “BETHESDA” MEANS, IT MEANS “HOUSE OF MERCY”. JUST HAVE MERCY...

JESUS HAD MERCY AT THE HOUSE OF MERCY, HERE AT THIS POOL, CALLED BETHESDA... HE TOLD THE MAN, “PICK UP THY BED AND WALK...STRAIGHTWAY, THE MAN LEGS GOT STRENGHT, AND HE PICKED UP HIS BED AND HE WALKED AWAY....THE BIBLE SAYS JESUS FOUND HIM IN THE CHURCH, PRAISING THE LORD...HE BROUGHT HIS BED TO CHURCH WITH HIM...GOT A LOAD THAT’S KEEPING YOU DOWN...BRING IT TO CHURCH...BRING IT TO THE LORD. WHEN YOUR BED OF AFFLICTION, SEEMS TOO HEAVY TO CARRY...PICK UP YOUR BED, AND BRING IT TO THE LORD...GOD IS ABLE TODAY....TO CARRY YOUR HEAVY LOAD.