Home JONI & FRIENDS DAILY DEVOTIONAL Joni and Friends 10th September 2022: …A Long Time

Joni and Friends 10th September 2022: …A Long Time

by Chibuzor Nwaobasi

Joni and Friends 10th September 2022
Joni and Friends 10th September 2022 Daily Devotional, Saturday Message

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TOPIC: …A Long Time

One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time… John 5:5–6

Joni and Friends 10th September 2022 MESSAGE

This year I marked a poignant anniversary: fifty-five years in my wheelchair. Fifty-five years, when compared to the Roman lighthouse at Dover Castle—or the Pyramids—isn’t much time at all. It’s barely a heartbeat in history, and as nothing compared with eternity. But for a flesh-and-blood, earth-dwelling human being, fifty-five years in a wheelchair is a long time. Trust me on this…

Even Jesus thinks so. When he saw the paralyzed man lying on his mat at the pool of Bethesda, and learned that he had been in that condition thirty-eight years, he regarded it as “a long time.”

You have no idea how much I value that phrase in Scripture: “A long time…” The Lord of all, the One who existed eternally before time, who created time but lives outside of it, whose name is Ancient of Days and Everlasting God, that Jesus feels that living without the use of your legs for thirty-eight years—or fifty-five years—is a long time.

When the Savior’s eyes rested on the paralyzed man lying on his worn, weathered straw mat, his heart went out to him. He saw more than a disabled man waiting through the years for healing, without any real hope. He took time to learn that poor soul’s story. We can imagine Jesus whispering the words to himself, “Thirty-eight years,” and feeling the weight of those years in himself. Joni and Friends 10th September 2022

In our Lord’s humanity, thirty-eight years was more than his whole earthly lifespan. He understands time not only as something he created, but in an experiential, human way as well. As the book of Hebrews reminds us, “We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality” (Hebrews 4:15, The Message).

The God who is above time, beyond time, and outside of time chose to enter time, proving that he fully understands our experience of it. He knows how it feels to us when prayers seem to go unanswered… when the pain or illness lingers… when days pass with no word from a loved one… when the pregnancy test keeps coming up negative… when we’re stuck in a dreary, going-nowhere place in life. If it feels like “a long time” to us, then we can count on it feeling that way to him, too. It may be difficult for us to wait, but he waits with us, offering his own presence and companionship to see us through.

– Beside Bethesda –

Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help. – Hebrews 4:14–16 (The Message)

From where you sit today, what things in your life seem to be taking “a long time”? Ask the Lord to kneel with you, as he knelt with the man at the pool of Bethesda, to feel your frustration and fading hope, and to sustain you with his perspective… and his peace.

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