I Have No Man

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. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

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.”

Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. (John 5:2-9)

This is an incredible story of God’s deliverance and much can be learned from this brief encounter. The pool of Bethesda was a very religious place where crowds of people gathered to be healed. They understood exactly how it worked. Everyone waited around the pool and when the water was troubled the first one in was healed. This was a scene that was repeated over and over again.

This was obviously an act of God, but the problem with the people was, they began to believe that this was the only way God could move in their lives. It’s all they had ever seen.

When Jesus approached the man with the infirmity, He asked a very simple question that should have had a simple answer, “Do you want to be healed”? The answer from a normal person would be, “Yes”! But that is not the answer this poor man gave.

He was bound by years of wrong thinking. He thought he knew everything about God’s healing power. He had seen it many times at the pool. The water moves, some lucky person gets in first and they are healed. That’s how it works, every time. He had no idea that God could do a new thing! In his mind, you don’t get healed without getting wet!

He had it all figured out. He knew exactly why he couldn’t get healed. In his mind, there was a logical reason he could never get it. He said, “I have no man to help and someone else always gets in first”. He put his entire faith for a miracle into the hands of men. “I have no man”.

This is a terrible trap to fall into. We should never put our future or our destiny or our miracle from God into the hands of men. Never let a man or lack of natural help, stand between you and God. No one determins what you receive from God. You are the only one that can make that choice.

He had been sitting by that pool for decades thinking the only way he could get what God had was with the help of man! “I have no man”, is the cry of many today.

“I don’t have a man”, “Nobody likes me”, ” there is no one to help me”, ” nobody cares about me”,”I have no Friends”…

Maybe you’ve been let down and disappointed by everyone you’ve ever trusted. Many can say the following: “My Dad deserted me”. “My boss fired me”. “My Pastor failed me”. “My friends forsook me”. “My wife or husband left me”. “My family doesn’t want me”.

These things are painful and all too common, but don’t allow them to keep you from your miracle. Your answer is between you and God and no one else.

We must refuse to let the failures of others impact our relationship with God. He has never failed anyone. He is worthy of our trust and confidence. I t is sad to see how many people have fallen away from God because of what someone else has done.

You may not have a man, but all you need is faith in God!

You don’t need the approval of men or the permission of an organization to succeed. You must depend on a personal faith in God for your life above all else. Some of the most successful people who have ever lived owe the credit for their success to God alone.

• When David Faced Goliath, he had no man.
• When Elijah called down fire from heaven and killed the prophets of Baal, one of the greatest miracles in the Bible, he had no man. He sat under the juniper tree and told God, “I alone am left”.
• When Joseph was sold into slavery and falsely accused by his master and thrown into prison, he had no man. But God intervened after 13 years and made him prime minister of Egypt.
• When Prayer was outlawed and Daniel prayed against the King’s command and was thrown into the lions den, he had no man. But God delivered him from certain death.
• When Jesus stood before Pilate and was falsely accused, beaten and crucified, he had no man.
• When Stephen preached his greatest sermon and was stoned, he had no man.
• When Paul stood before King Agrippa and witnessed to the highest leaders in the land, he had no man.

God may use many people to come along and help you during the course of your life, but ultimately your faith must rest in God alone.

This little man at the pool almost missed the most important event in his life because he was so conditioned to believe that things will always be the way they’ve always been.

Jesus set him free from his little religious prison with one statement. “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” He used nothing this man was familiar with. No man, no angel, no pool, no water. Just Jesus and a miracle. He had never seen anything like it before. When Jesus enters the picture, the past does not matter.

God can do a new thing for you without anyone else being involved. Too many people are waiting around for someone to do something for them. Give them a break or give them a job or give them an anointing. A special touch or a special word. Their excuse for staying in a rut is “I have no man”.

Whatever you need today, Jesus can do it for you. The key to your breakthrough is within your reach. Change your thinking from “I don’t have a man” to “I don’t need a man”. You don’t need anyone’s permission to be successful or blessed or fruitful in life.

It is all too common to have too much help from men. f Blind Bartimaeus had listened to those around him, he never would have been healed. As he cried out on the roadside, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me”! Mark 10:48 says, “many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Men tried to tell him it wouldn’t work, men tried to tell him what God would or wouldn’t do. But he refused to listen. Don’t let people stand between you and God! Bartimaues cried out all the more.

His attitude was, [This isn’t between me and you, this is between me and God]. [If Jesus doesn’t want to heal me, let him tell me himself.] [I don’t need a man to get my miracle!] [I don’t need your permission to call on God] I like his attitude and it worked.

Of course Jesus healed his blindness without anyone’s help. One of the greatest improvements in this new and better covenant is that Jesus has made the way to God for anyone and everyone.

None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.
-Hebrews 8:11

You can go boldly to the throne of grace and obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Refuse to leave your future in the hands of someone else who may or may not come through for you. Jesus will always come through for you! You don’t need a man all you need is faith in Jesus!