Amends

By Kristen Bourgeois

I have read the many accounts of those who were healed by Jesus in the Bible. But one healing had always perplexed me. The healing of the ill man by the pool of Bethesda.

It says in John chapter 5, verse 6: “Jesus, upon seeing this man lying there and knowing that he had already been in that condition for a long time, said to him, ‘Do you want to get well?’”

I always thought the question Jesus asked the ill man was peculiar. Wasn’t it obvious that this ill man, who had been waiting by the pool to be healed, enough proof of his desire to be healed?

I have learned along my own journey of healing that just showing up is just the first step.  For many years, I had prayed for healing, and I kept hearing Jesus’ reply with “Do you want to get well?”

The first step of showing up broken led to the second step of wanting to be healed by the “Great Physician” and believing that Jesus still heals in today’s world. This led to the third step of trusting Jesus – that he does in fact want to heal my broken heart. The fourth step is trusting the healing process.  I had to trust how Jesus was going to heal me.

And, part of how Jesus is healing me is providing me with opportunities and the courage to face those in my life and making amends to how I have hurt them. I wouldn’t have had the courage to do that without grace.