Do You Want Help?
If you put a vulture in a 6’x8’ pen that is open on top, the bird, despite its ability to fly, would be a prisoner. Vultures learn to fly by running 10 to 12 feet and lifting off. They are fully capable of taking off in a short span, they just don’t know it. So it wouldn't even attempt to fly out of the pen but would remain a prisoner for life.
The bats you may see flying around at night need either an un-level surface or a slight ledge to get airborne. If one is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle around helplessly. If you lift it just a bit, it takes off like a flash.
A bumblebee, if dropped into an open jar, will remain in it until it dies. It never considers escaping at the top, but will wear itself out trying to break through the glass.
There are many people like the vulture, the bat, and bumblebees. Struggling against problems and frustrations, not realizing that the answer is right “above” them.
When will we see that God is the only way? His path is the only road to genuine and lasting happiness. When we “do our own thing,” regardless of what the Bible says or what God thinks, we hurt ourselves. And the only way out of our trouble is through him.
In John 5, Jesus encountered a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years. This man was waiting near the pool, Bethesda, where it was commonly believed that an angel stirred the water to heal those who entered the pool at that time. We can only imagine how many years had passed as he watched and waited, leaving each day exactly as he came. Jesus approached the man and asked him what appears to be a ludicrous question, “Do you want to be healed?” The man does not answer, “Of course!” or even “Yes.” He did not even answer Jesus’ question. He responded by explaining to Jesus how his infirmity also kept him from getting into the pool for healing, and even seems to blame everyone else for not getting him into the pool on time.
Jesus’ question pointed to something deeper in his heart, and in the hearts of all of us struggling to overcome problems. “Do you want to get well?” Do you really want to get well? Are you willing to stop your struggle, and instead look to the only one who can heal you? Or will you keep doing what you’ve been doing to no avail?
Like the bee hopelessly scrambling to break through a glass barrier, you can furiously fight for freedom. But that freedom is only available from above. God wants to release you, but you have to commit your way to him.
“Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass” (Psalm 37:5, NKJV).