Persistent Pursuit of Your Breakthrough
Scripture - John 5:1-15
It's amazing to me that the man in today's passage who had been sick for thirty-eight years always seemed to make it to the pool of Bethesda, but never seemed to complete the process of making it into the pool to receiving his healing.
I imagine someone had to carry him to the pool but obviously left him with no help to get in the pool once the angel stirred the water. He was helpless yet he had to fend for himself and get into the pool the best way he knew how, only to miss his opportunity. How frustrating that may have been for him to get that close to being healed, but not being fully able to receive?
Have you ever been so close to a miracle or breakthrough but couldn't experience it for some reason? Whether that breakthrough was contingent upon someone else's help or not, you didn't get to experience it? Did you want it bad enough to press your way, or did you give up and remain in your situation?
Time after time the man in today's passage would always get close to his breakthrough be never really experienced it. But the key is, he never gave up. He kept coming back!
One of my pastors once said, "Consistency is the key to the breakthrough." That simply means if you want a breakthrough bad enough, you must be consistent in the process to get it. Think about it, a slow drip of water can split a rock in two over a period of time. Not because the water is strong or sharp, but because it is consistent.
Jesus asked this man in verse six, "Do you want to be made well?" The man responded, "Sir, I have no one to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I'm coming, another steps down before me." At first this seems like an excuse, and maybe it is. But to me it sounds like frustration. "I get so close but because I don't have any help, someone gets to it before me."
Jesus, being compassionate and understanding feels this man's plight and heals him. All those years of thinking, hoping, and wishing his breakthrough would come through one source comes through another - Jesus Christ the Healer Himself. I'm sure this man didn't know he would have this encounter but his persistence paid off and he received what he had long awaited for.
What have you been waiting for God to do in your life? What breakthrough are you seeking? Have you been persistently in your pursuit of it? Persistence produces results. And get this... this man's past didn't prevent him from being healed. It was after his healing Jesus told him to "sin no more". So stop letting your past prevent you from receiving from God.
The process of persistence:
- Pray without ceasing.
- Thank God daily for what you're believing Him to do in your life.
- Make your daily confessions/affirmations.
- Imagine what your life will look like and feel like once you receive your breakthrough.
- Connect with people who can help you.
- Take action.
- Trust God.
- Have you persistently pursued Jesus to receive your breakthrough? Why or why?
- What part of the process of persistence have you missed? Why?
- Spend time today asking God to help you persistently pursue Him.
Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord’s work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. -1 Corinthians 15:58, HCSB
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