[Devotional] IN HIS PRESENCE: The stirring of the pool

Read: John 5:1-8

Meditation verse:

“For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water;  then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of  whatever disease he had” (John 5:4).

Your heart is a pool of ideas and dreams. There are visions that need to be  birthed, businesses that need to be created, books that need to be written as  well as souls that need to be saved. Every now and then, the Holy Spirit will  cause a stirring within you which could be in the form of an uneasy feeling, a  restlessness that you cannot explain, a strong impulse or a deep desire and  longing for or towards a particular direction. It may be to begin a project, speak  to someone, start a business or go somewhere. What you do after the stirring is  important. An activity on your part must immediately follow the stirring for you  to accomplish whatever it is that God designed the stirring for.  

“Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew,  Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind,  lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down  at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped  in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he  had” (John 5:2-4). There had to be an activity immediately after the stirring of  the pool for the miracle of healing to take place. Someone had to quickly jump  into the water. The emphasis was on the immediacy of the action. The Holy Spirit  is a gentle spirit who will not force His will on us. When he stirs our hearts and  we fail to respond, He leaves us alone and the loss is always ours, not His.  

I recall with regret certain instances where God had tugged my heart to  commence certain projects and I had hesitated out of fear, doubt or lack of faith  in the success of it. I am the wiser now as I have learnt to act immediately after  any stirring. Towards what do you feel God’s pull this day? Why not jump into  the pool immediately. And as you do, may you receive wholeness in that area of  your life where you need it most.

IN HIS PRESENCE is written by Pst (Mrs) Oke Chinye, Founder of The Rock Teaching Ministry (TRTM).

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