I CAN'T AND THEY WON'T

Today's reading: John 5-6

"I can't, sir, the sick man said, for I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get there, someone else always gets in ahead of me."  John 5:7 NLT

I don't know of any more debilitating words than 'I can't'.

They are disabling.

They are defeating.

They are demoralizing.

They are depressing.

Especially coming from this man's mouth--a man who was standing face to face, eye to eye, toe to toe, in the very presence of Jesus.

Maybe he couldn't walk--

Maybe his friends were too busy to help--

Maybe his friends had their own issues--

Maybe the folks around him were not considerate to his affirmities--

But to say it to Jesus? His Creator? The one who holds the power of the world in His hands?

How sad.

You don't do the same thing, do you?

When He asks something of you, do you begin listing excuses as to why you can't, reasons why you've never done it before, obstacles that stand in your way?

My, oh my, how our lives would change if we would stop saying, I can't, and instead say...

I CAN if You help me, Lord!