Participating

"Get up! Pick up your mat and walk!" John 5:8

Some days when I read the Gospel lesson for the day, I am very encouraged. Some days it seems to have been written just for my situation. Other days, it blind sides me and brings me up short. On those days, I just don't want to deal with what the gospel reading is saying to me. And other times, on some rare occasion, the gospel can irritate me, like the lesson today. What comes to mind on those days is, "why healing for them and not for my loved one (insert name) right here right now?" I believe that God does heal and I pray for healing for many people. But there are days when I feel like hiding or giving up. Some days we all have a hard time believing, a hard time continuing to participate when life becomes overwhelming.

So today, I am going to pray for all of us who might feel like have come to the end of our ropes and feel like quitting. We might be overwhelmed by the challenges of the holidays for many reasons. We might be undone by things our families have said and done. We might just be tired out from living. For all of the weary, hurting world, Jesus has come. Jesus has come for all the broken and battered, the exhausted and the frustrated. He has come for all of us and promises healing and transformation even when we no longer have the strength to pray or believe it. May we all have the courage to participate today even though we might not feel like anything good can come out of it. For Christ is in the midst of us, standing by the pool, reaching out to those who can no longer participate and inviting them to be healed.