The Sickness Excuse (Part II)

ISSUE: ‘I don’t feel like going to work.  I’ll just call in sick!’

“Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”  John 5:5,6 , New King James Version

RESEARCH AND STUDY

Let me direct that same question to you – do you want to be made well, yes or no? You might ask, “What kind of question is that?”  It’s actually a very legitimate one because there comes a time when you’re going to have to ask yourself do you really want to be healed or have you been enjoying the excuse, attention, pity, and lifestyle your sickness has garnered you.

Have you ever pretended or extended your sickness to get out of doing something you didn’t want to do?  Sure, we all have.  Because when someone’s sick, we tend to excuse them from their responsibilities.   We let them get away with not completing their assignments.  Corporate America has even allocated a few times a year when you’re paid to be excused from your assignments and responsibilities – they call them ‘sick days.’  The medical field has even designated seasons of sickness; they’re referred to as the ‘cold or flu season.’

But when Jesus posed the question to the man that had been sick for thirty-eight years, he got three excuses; “Sir,(trying to sound all pitiful) I have no man to put me into the pool (excuse #1) when the water is stirred up; (excuse #2) but while I am coming, another steps down before me (excuse #3).” 

Notice Jesus heard the all three excuses but did Jesus say, “You’re right, call in sick!” or “They sure did.  You need to call Morgan & Weisbrod to get your disability started.”  No, Jesus said, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”  In other words, ‘Don’t nobody want to hear all that.  Get up!  Clean this mess up and do what God created You to do!’ 

My hope is that you no longer use the sickness excuse but that you’ll rise.  Prayerfully you’ll no longer excuse the sickness in your body to the point that you continue to allow pain the right to continue to oppress you and that you’ll take your healing, walk, and do what God created You to do.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Ask God to forgive you for all the times you used the sickness excuse. 

RESOURCES

http://flcbranson.org/listseries.php?xml=QuestionsAboutHealing.xml

Healing: Do You Want To Be Made Well?

ISSUE: ‘Are you sick because God is punishing you, trying to teach you something, or because its His will?’

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’

John 5:5,6 , New King James Version

RESEARCH AND STUDY

Do you want to be made well? Then the first thing you must do is settle it in your heart that it is GOD’S WILL for you to be healed and be made well.  I know that seems a bit elementary, but many believe God is punishing them and that’s why their sick.  Others think He’s trying to teach them something.  Some are even convinced that it’s God’s will, that He wants them to be sick. 

Let’s jus think about that for a minute.  If He’s punishing you, then when is the punishment up - when you get healed?  Well, what if you get healed and do the same thing you did that you thought He was punishing you for in the first place?  Does that mean you’re supposed to be sick for the rest of your life?

Okay then well if He’s teaching you something, then what did you learn?  I’ve even heard some preachers teach that sickness is a good teacher.  But the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is our teacher (John 14:26); so is the Holy Spirit supposed to teach us how to be sick?   

If it’s God’s will for you to be sick, then why are you taking medicine and going to the doctor trying to get better?  If it’s His will that you be sick, stay sick.  Stop taking those prescriptions and going to the doctor and sit down some where and stay sick for Jesus!

But if in fact God ISN’T punishing you or trying to teach you something and that it’s NOT His will that you be sick, then, you’re going to have to make up your mind and settle that issue in your heart. Because if you continue to believe that it is God’s will for you to be sick and you’re taking medication at the same time, then you’re disobedient and once again, by default, need to be punished with more sickness. 

So what is God’s will?  God’s will is in His Word and His Word says in Isaiah 53:5 that, ‘…He was wounded for [YOUR] transgressions, He was bruised for [YOUR] iniquities; the chastisement for [YOUR] peace was upon Him, and by His stripes [YOU]  ARE HEALED.’  That’s God’s will. PERIOD.

YOUR ASSIGNMENT

Re-read this issue a few more times if you’re sick.  Pray and ask God to reveal His will for you – in the Word! Go over Isaiah 53:5 and insert your name or the word ‘my’.  “But He was wounded my Staci’s trangressions.  He was bruised for my…’ Make it personal.  Look up the words transgressions, iniquities, chastisement. 

RESOURCES

http://flcbranson.org/listseries.php?xml=QuestionsAboutHealing.xml