God is totally able to change my situation by granting me a job. The question is am I truly willing for Him to do that?
I was reading a portion of Scripture today about the sick man at the pool of Bethesda in John 5:2-9. He had been sick for 38 years and had spent much of his time sitting at this pool of healing watching all his other friends get healed while he remained the same. Riddled with excuses and pain, when Jesus asked the man, “Do you want to get well?” the man didn’t say a hopeful “Yes!” He instead told Jesus why he had been sick all these years.
So I asked myself today, Laura, do you really want a job? Or have you grown so comfortable, resigned, and bitter about the fact that you have been waking up every day for the past three months attempting to get viable employment and yet not finding one that you have given up? Do you really expect that God is going to provide work for you? Or are you making the same lame excuses that the sick man was making because you don’t believe anything will ever change for you?
Wow! This was a harsh lesson for me. Somewhere deep inside, I haven’t believed God was able to truly provide. And I haven’t been willing to accept His plan.
I have been afraid of finding myself in a job that I hated, that didn’t pay enough to live on, that didn’t utilize my gifts, and that didn’t offer me the freedom to be myself. So I had been sitting at the pool, so to speak. When the waters of opportunity got stirred, instead of getting excited about the possibilities and fully embracing a future blessing, I felt sometimes more defeated than before. Some days, it just didn’t seem worth the effort. So I would sit in self-pity. And that’s the truth.
Today I quickly realized that my bad attitude has to go! Where the heart is, the body soon follows. In this case, the paralysis of negative analysis equals going nowhere. Lack of movement leads to death; movement in the right direction equals life. That’s why we call successful people go-getters or movers and shakers – they aren’t sitting around making excuses!
So now I am going to say yes to the Lord once again in a very practical way and let my actions follow my words. When the Holy Spirit stirs up the waters of my life with all kinds of job opportunities floating around, I am going to take His hand and race to get under that deluge of His anointing. And I am going to let that pool of His blessing bring the answer I desire.
Hope I will see you in the pool with me!
– Laura J. Bagby
