Some people don’t want us to be whole (John 5:10-13)
Please take some time to consider this question, “On a day to day basis, what type of people are you around?” When I ask this question, I am asking it simply to get us to look at how the very same persons we find ourselves interacting with on a daily basis may play a vital role in our lives without us even knowing it.
Are you around people who constantly complain about everything? Do you know anyone who never has anything good to say about anything? How often are you in the presence of people who let things happen as opposed to making them happen?
Believe it or not, our human relationships play a vital role in our lives. Who we associate with and what we allow those persons to say to us can greatly influence us. Also, what we hear or fail to hear from someone in our lives is important to our sense of wholeness as well.
Becoming whole is possible for each of us just as it was for the infirmed man who had been ill for 38 years. After having been healed by Jesus and probably feeling on top of the world, this man is met by a group of Jews who engage him in dialogue.
This discussion led by the Jews is void of any positive comments from them regarding this man’s present physical condition. It is obvious that some, if not all of them had been aware of this man’s condition prior to him being healed by Jesus.
But, instead of saying to the man that they were glad he was healed, we read in our passage that this man is actually being reprimanded for breaking the law on the Sabbath.
Isn’t that just like some of us, instead of seeing the positive things that has occurred in other people lives, we quickly refer back to or bring up all of the negative that we know about them or at least think we know.
This man who had once been totally dependent upon others, had now been healed and all that some of the Jews at that time could say was, “It is the Sabbath day, it is not lawful for thee to carry thou bed.” (John 5:10 KJV).
Much like many of us, instead of looking at
all of the good that had taken place for this man, those who detained him could only see the negative.
Our theme, “Some People Don’t Want Us to be Whole,” is very true. I have been trying to analyze or assess some of the reasons why the aforementioned statement might be true.
I came up with a few reasons for why a person or group of persons may have a problem with someone in general or us in particular as we pursue wholeness.
The reason someone or a group of persons does not want you or someone else to be whole could be
centered around jealously, envy, or loss of influence or control over someone’s life.
Each of the things just mentioned can serve as motivators for the person or persons not wanting to see us or others become whole.
Remember, when we speak of being whole we are describing some element of improvement in our lives which can encompass spiritual growth, financial growth, physical healing, emotional healing or whatever else we seek to obtain.
We often think that Satan is our only adversary when it comes to our well being but that is definitely not true. There are others in our life who consciously and unconsciously serve as wholeness preventors.
Wholeness preventors can be in our families, among our friends, among our co-workers, among our neighbors and possibly even in faith communities.
The wholeness preventors as I would often hear elderly persons say, “Don’t mean you no good.” They may appear to be supportive but their actions or dispositions will prove otherwise.
This was the case with the Jews who encountered this healed man on the Sabbath. They help support the sermon’s theme that there are some people who do not want us to be whole.
Anything was better than what they said! Think about it, why couldn’t they say, ‘We’re glad to see that you are no longer on the bed.’ ‘I bet it feels real good for you to not have to wait on others to do something for you.’ Or, how does it feel to be well?’
None of those things were said because the Jews attitude in the passage was not positive. They were legalistic in their mindset and could not even celebrate with this man.
Their mindset did not take anything away from what had occurred in this man’s life and neither will the negative attitude from the other wholeness preventors who show up in our lives.
We must be prepared to move forward in our pursuits for wholeness even if it means that we go it alone like the man did in this passage. We will run into persons just like this man encountered with the Jews.
The key thing to remember is once you encounter those who arrive to act as a wholeness preventor, we must first of all realize that they did not do what was done and they do not have the power to reverse it.
Our wholeness is not based on what others think
or say about us but on what God desires for our lives.
We may encounter someone who doesn’t like us for the sake of just not liking us, but that doesn’t stop us from being whole. Our attitude must remain positive as we continue to rely on the power of our God to administer wholeness in our lives daily.
I want to encourage each of us to not allow anyone to distract us from what God has ordained for our lives. God desires for us to be whole in every phase of our lives.
It is our responsibility to establish a relationship with God and allow the presence of the Holy Spirit to continue to minister to us in every phase of our lives so that wholeness can continue to be a reality for us. If need be, let’s begin to disregard anyone or force that comes our way in hopes
of blocking our God given right to be made whole.
They will come but we must be strong and stand on the promises that the same God who helped to inspire us to seek wholeness will sustain us during times of trials and tribulations.
Some people don’t want us to be whole but we must remember that God wills it for each of God’s children’s lives.
Wholeness is attainable and can be acquired with God’s help even when there are those in opposition to our wholeness.
We have to be committed to our wholeness and God will carry us to the next levels of wholeness.
