There Is A Mountain Of A Difference Between Helplessness And Hopelessness. Do Not Confuse One With The Other.

Bread From Heaven Christian Fellowship
Thoughts For the Day
November 30 to December 6, 2009
Except when otherwise indicated “Scripture is taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.”
John 4:46-5:17
There Is A Mountain Of A Difference Between Helplessness And Hopelessness.
Do Not Confuse One With The Other.
Instruction:
For the first day (Monday), read the entire passage (John 4:46 to 5:18). Pray for wisdom to understand and courage to obey. Everyday thereafter, read the assigned passage carefully. Reading it twice would be good. As you read the passage, note the issues having to do with helplessness and how it got resolved.

Introduction:
The devotional reading this week is from John 4:46 to chapter 5 verse 17. There are two major characters in this passage. The first is a man who was apparently a high official in the court of King Herod whose son was sick and was probably beyond the ability of the Doctors to do anything about. The second is a man who was afflicted with some kind of a serious form disability. He had been an invalid for 38 years. The first man faced with something new and urgent situation: the threat to his son’s life. The other one may have acquired some kind of an ability to cope with his disability but he was not seeing any answer to his problem. Remember to distinguish the distinction between helplessness and hopelessness.

Monday: Read John 4:46-54. THE URGENCY ASSOCIATED WITH OUR PROBLEM GENERATES HELPLESSNESS, A DIFFICULT FOE TO FIGHT BUT HELPLESSNESS IS NOT HOPELESSNESS.
John 4:49 The royal official said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." 50 Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he started off.
Helplessness is a reality we are confronted with from time to time. One common reason for our helplessness is the urgency that comes with running out of time in relation to our problem. In the Bible passage for this day, the man’s son was sick and, we are told, he was dying. When somebody is dying, time is so short and if an answer can still be found, it must be found very, very soon. The man’s son was dying and to save him, the father must find the answer soon. His helplessness was transformed into victory when he met the Lord Jesus Christ. Is the urgency of finding a solution weighing you down into a helpless and battered burden-bearer? The man found his answer in the Lord Jesus. You too can find your answer in Him

Tuesday: Read John 4:46-54. THE ABSENCE OF OUR USUAL SOURCES WHEN WE FACE OUR PROBLEMS IS ONE REASON FOR THE SENSE OF HELPLESSNESS THAT SOMETIMES GRIPS OUR ENTIRE BEING. BUT, HELPLESSNESS IS NOT HOPELESSNESS.
John 4:50 Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he started off.
Here was the situation. The man possessed power and money. But his power and money were instruments of zero value in relation to his dying son. In his position, he must have access to good doctors and the best of medical care. We can safely assume that he tapped into these resources but nothing and no one can provide the answer he needed. He refused to be hopeless and so he approached the Lord Jesus.
When our usual sources of help, comfort and assurance in life are absent, helplessness naturally comes in and grips our hearts. Helplessness is a difficult foe. But, in the story of this man’s problem, we note the wonderful reality that when nothing else can help, the Lord Jesus is there to provide what others cannot. That is why the Lord Jesus is called THE ANSWER.

Wednesday: Read John 4:46-54. THE LORD DEALS WITH OUR HELPLESSNESS IN A BEAUTIFUL MANNER. INSTEAD OF JUST REMOVING OUR FEELING OF HELPLESSNESS, THE LORD REMOVES THE REASON FOR OUR HELPLESSNESS.
John 4:49 The royal official said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." 50 Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he started off.
What was the man’s problem? His son was dying. What was the reason for the man’s helplessness? His son was dying and there was nothing in his power that could save the son’s life. The sickness itself may not have made the man feel helpless but the approaching death was something else. There are two ways of removing our feeling helplessness. One was is to change our feelings and make us feel joyful. The better way is really to remove the cause and reason for our helplessness and the helplessness naturally fades away as a result.
Changing the feelings is not the answer that removes helplessness. Changing the situation and removing the problem is still the best way to deal with our helplessness. That is what the Lord can do for you today.

Thursday: Read John 5:1-17. A HARD AND OPPRESSING REALITY: HELPLESSNESS SOMETIMES MEANS TOTAL INABILITY BUT IT STILL DOES NOT MEAN HOPELESSNESS
John 5:5 And a certain man was there, who had been thirty-eight years in his sickness.
Thirty Eight years of being disabled is a long time by any standard. The man had total physical disability to carry out the usual requirements for the life of a person. Sure, he was able to move from one corner to the other – probably by crawling or some other slow and difficult method- but that was about all. Total inability is a harsh description but it seems to describe the man correctly. He was helpless in the true sense of the word but he was never hopeless.
This is important to note: Helplessness refers to our lack of ability. Hopelessness refers to the absence of God’s love and care. The man was helpless in relation to his ability but he was not hopeless because God is love and God provided the way out of his helplessness. Say this aloud: I may be unable but God is always able. Helplessness simply means to I need God’s help.


Friday: Read John 5:1-17. HELPLESSNESS CAN BE AGGRAVATED BY THE ABSENCE OF SOCIAL SUPPORT SYSTEM. STILL IT DOES NOT MEAN HOPELESSNESS.
John 5:6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, "Do you wish to get well?" 7 The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me."
The man believed a story that was probably popular in those days: an angel comes from time to time to stir up the water. Anyone who gets into the pool first gets healed. The man had no one to help him so he believed it was the reason why he was not healed. He was alone with no one else by his side to help him. It must have been a lonely life. He was helpless but he refused to be hopeless. He waited and waited and one day, somebody came and removed his problem and his helplessness. People may abandon us or refuse to help us but God knows what to do. The absence of a social support system can make us helpless but no hopeless. God is our hope and with Him, there is no hopelessness at all. Say this aloud: Lord, friends may fail me but You will always be faithful and You will never abandon me.

Saturday: Read John 5:1-17. THERE ARE TIMES WHEN GOD HELPS US OVERCOME OUR HELPLESSNESS WITHOUT LETTING US KNOW THE IDENTITY OF THE PERSON ASSIGNED TO HELP US.
John 5:12 They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Take up your pallet, and walk'?" 13 But he who was healed did not know who it was; for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place.
The Lord Jesus asked the disabled man a very simple question: do you want to get well? The Lord did not introduce Himself so the man did not even get to know who it was who was talking to him. He got healed and everything but he walked away with his pallet- long the symbol of his disability and helplessness- without asking who it was who was talking to him.
Amazing but it is not really strange. It tells us a fantastic truth: God can help us even through persons not known to us at the time the help was extended. The man was helpless and the One who alone can remove his helplessness was there. He got his miracle. This is life. God knows our needs and He may decide to help us even without us knowing the identities of the appointed blessing giver.

Sunday: Read the entire passage- John 4:46 to 5:17: THE HIGH OFFICIAL AND THE DISABLED MAN WERE BOTH HELPLESS BUT BOTH REFUSED TO BE HELPLESS.
Reality is that problem comes our way and for some the visitation seems to be as regular the weekdays of the week. For some it may be a burden that is mitigated by the long period between visitations. It does not change the picture: we face problems and some of these problems can awaken us rudely with the reality that at sometimes, we are helpless and helplessness is a difficult enemy to contend with.
The powerful official was helpless but he refused to be hopeless. He found his answer in the Lord Jesus. The disabled man was helpless but he refused to be hopeless. He found his answer in the Lord Jesus although he was not even aware at first that it was the Lord Jesus. The point is that we are sometimes helpless but we can refuse to be cornered into hopelessness. We have the Lord Jesus and that is really what matters and the final keep to our victory. Rejoice, He loves you.