Still feeling the theme from my posts over the past couple of days, God is a god of action - What He says, He'll do and it will happen. He's not like us where, we know what we need to do but... we respond with "Why does it have to be so early?" Or, "but i'm tired..." Or, "why are you rebuking me when so&so does this?" Our lives are that much more difficult because they're run by us. We are the master of excuses, of deflection, and of denial. God, who knows all, tells us how we can have happy & fulfilled lives, and yet we are too lazy or self-victimizing to follow, much less listen.

In John 5, Jesus walks up to the pool of Bethseda and sees many people who are disabled - lame, blind, & paralyzed. And He walks up to a cripple, and I think that He asks him "How long have you been here?" because the scriptures say that he's been invalid for 38yrs. We do know that Jesus asks him, "Do you want to get well?" First off, we know that this is a rhetorical question because anyone whose been disabled for however many years, would want to. And second, Jesus knows everything, so when He asks you a question, it's for your benefit and not His. But the man responds that no one helps him into the pool, and when he tries, someone else gets ahead of him.

Not to sound detached but I guess he didn't want the healing that badly! Think about it, he had been laying there for a long time! He was sitting there, waiting for someone to help him, and yet he did nothing to get into the pool himself.

And during all of that time, why couldn't he make it into the pool himself?

But Jesus response was perfect: "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." He didn't spew words of sympathy (although he was perfectly capable of that), but told him to get up (start doing things for yourself) and pick up your mat (take care of the mess you've made this whole time) and walk (something we should've been doing from "go"... something that we may even take for granted).

We are like the crippled man - We are God's children, more powerful than we even begin to understand, and yet how do we use this "but it's too hard" mentality? We have the power of God to do things, so that means that we were meant to do things that outside of normal human ability! If life was meant to be easy, then we wouldn't need God or His power. And yet, we weigh ourselves down with this "it's too hard" mentality. We choose to live without coming close to scratching our true potential... We choose to live in the darkness of failure & stagnation. You are like an army of millions, armed to the teeth, with so much firepower & support, trained as the elitest of the elite... and yet, when you face an army of 200, armed with just sticks, you throw your hands into the air & surrender! We have God on our side, and yet we give up.

But the devil wants us there... Playing that line over & over & over in our mind... "it's just too hard". How is it that we would not stand for it if our kids just kept feeling sorry for themselves, and yet it's ok when we do it?!? The devil wants us to focus on ourselves, and excuses because when we do that, we are not looking upon God! If your walk with God doesn't have "God", then it will fail. If youre life is led by emotion, then that is your god.

This scripture tells us that nothing will ever be too difficult for us. The word of God makes anything possible when we have it in our head & heart, but how much more when our times are difficult?

Look at this scripture:

When God freed His people, He did not immediately lead them to the promised land. Why? Because at that time, the Promised Land was occupied. To claim their land, they needed to kick out it's current inhabitants, but God knew that His people weren't ready for war. Even though we know that "with God, we can do anything", our spiritual growth is on God's Mind more than His gifts. He is willing to hold off on His gifts and use up time so we can become stronger in our faith.

We need to start taking responsibility as God's disciples, and live the life that came at the cost of Jesus' life. We need to set our minds right, and make decisions that we will no longer be the devil's toy. We need to accept the fact that not only were we meant for hard things, but that we are anointed for these hard things.