"Get up! Pick up your mat and walk."

👤 Rachel 

Healing is a complex matter. I have found that often Jesus asks us to play a proactive role in our own healing. In John chapter 11 Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead but in vs. 43 Jesus calls to Lazarus to come out of the tomb. Jesus provides the power but he doesn’t go into the tomb to drag Lazarus out, he asks Lazarus to walk out of the darkness.
Jesus often asks us to help each other with our healing. In vs. 44 Jesus asks others to take off Lazarus’ grave clothes and to let him go. Christians were never meant to be isolated and sometimes we cannot get better without the help of others. I have found that others can provide the expertise and gifts to ‘unbind’ me when I cannot do so myself. God has designed it to be that way in the body of Christ.

Jesus also often waits for us to want to be healed. In John chapter 5:6 Jesus meets a man who has been unwell for 38 years. Jesus first question is “do you want to get well?” This may sound strange, but sometimes people are fearful of becoming well when they have been ill for a long time. When I worked in the NHS I commonly found this. We can fear many aspects of becoming well; increased responsibility, reduced attention, wanting to stay where is familiar, change in identity and so on. Therefore the best prayer to start with for many people is that they have the motivation and courage to become well.

Interestingly the man by the pool avoided Jesus’ question saying he had no one to help him get better (vs. 7). As with Lazarus, Jesus once again asks the man first to play a proactive role in his healing by telling him to “get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” (Vs. 8). Often Jesus wants us to take personal responsibility rather than waiting for someone else to make us better.

In my journey of healing, there have been countless ways in which Jesus has asked me to play a proactive role, take responsibility and to “pick up my mat and walk”. Whether to seek counselling, reach out to someone for prayer or help, exercise, take a Sabbath, listen to a podcast and many other examples. Jesus provides the power but he does often ask that we follow his call to walk out of our own darkness. Sometimes I have gaslit God and blamed him for not helping me. But then I usually find that when I am waiting for him, he is actually waiting on me.  

If you think this applies to you, perhaps there is a step God is asking you to take today towards your healing. I pray you will clearly hear Jesus direct you as he gives you his power.