He Can Overcome Our Hurts

"They need to see what they are really doing, so we make them face up to it by repeating, ‘I just won't get along with my wife.' ‘My husband & I won't com-municate.' ‘I won't discipline my kids the way I should.' ‘I won't stop gossiping.'

"When they change their ‘can'ts’ to ‘won'ts’ they stop avoiding the truth & start facing reality."

We need to determine what we really want, & as God's people, learn to say with Paul, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).

II. HE HAD TO QUIT BLAMING OTHERS

A. A second need for this man's healing was to quit blaming others for his problem.

There was a local belief that the waters of Bethesda had healing powers. The people in that day believed that when the waters of Bethesda bubbled up, the first one in the water would be cured.

So when Jesus asked, "Do you want to get well?" the man replied, "Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." (John 5:7)

He was complaining, "Every time the water bubbles up, no one will help me get into the pool. It's always the stronger ones who reach the water first. Those of us who need it the most don’t have anyone to help us. It's been that way for 38 years."

B. It's easy to blame other people for our problems. When God asked Adam why he disobeyed, Adam explained, "The woman you gave me persuaded me to eat."

When Moses asked his brother Aaron why he permitted the Israelites to worship a golden calf, Aaron said, "The people pressured me to do something since you were gone so long, Moses. They wanted gods like the Canaanites. So I just threw their jewelry into the fire & out came this calf."

Blame the people, blame Moses for taking so long, blame the Canaanites, blame the fire even! But don't blame me!

When Pilate was forced to make a decision about Jesus, he said, "I wash my hands of this matter. Do with Him as you please. But I'm innocent of this man's blood."

C. People do the same thing today. How often do we hear people say things like, "I'd stop drinking if my wife would quit nagging me!" "I'd work harder, but no one appreciates my effort." "I'd make better grades, but my teacher doesn't like me."

ILL. It is said that King William of Pottsdam once paid a royal visit to a prison. Every prisoner brought before him claimed to be innocent & begged for a pardon, except for one man who admitted his guilt.

King William told the warden, "Get this guilty man out of prison before he corrupts all these innocent men!" And the man was set free.

APPL. We have such a difficult time saying, "It's my fault." We blame heredity, environment, circumstances ? everything except ourselves. Yet what the Lord wants is for us to accept responsibility for our own behavior.

Romans 14:12 says that the day will come when "Each of us will give an account of himself to God."

Heredity & environment play a part in influencing us, but we can rise above that if we want to. Some of the world's most successful people had terrible pasts. Some of the most privileged people wind up being complete failures.