OnRamp is delighted to announce that God provided sufficient year-end giving to allow us to promote our Care Director, Taylor Carlson, to full-time status! As of January 1st, she’s now serving our clients full-time, helping them to thrive in every aspect of life, not just transportation. You can think of Taylor as a pastor to our clients, in a sense, coming beside them along with our volunteers to provide the resources, encouragement, growth, and love needed to take the next steps forward in life. Here’s how Taylor sees that process working, based on her insightful reading of John 5…
by Taylor Carlson, OnRamp Care Director
Recently, I was reading John chapter 5 and was struck by the story of Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath. This story takes place at the pool of Bethesda, which was known to have healing waters. Scripture says that “an angel of the Lord went down into the pool at appointed seasons and stirred up the water; the first one to go in after the water was stirred was healed of his disease.” (John 5:4, AMP) John describes a crowd around the pool of those who were blind, lame, or paralyzed; withered and weary. The man in this story had been waiting for healing for thirty-eight years. That’s a long time to be in need. That’s a long time to continue believing healing is possible.
When Jesus saw the man, he asked him an important question: “Do you want to be healed?”
I love this question. It seems obvious. Of course, this man wants to be healed! He’s been waiting for over thirty years! But time and time again, even in today’s culture, we assume someone wants and needs our help. We offer it in whatever way we see fit, without considering if they are ready for that next step. I think this is an important distinction: their willingness to receive help.
The man answered Jesus saying that he had no one to help him into the pool of water, and that when he was trying to get into the pool, someone stepped in front of him. This man reminds me of many of our clients at OnRamp. They continue to believe that they can be helped, and they continue to believe that there are people who care. Even as they wait, work, and worry, sometimes without community or resources, they continue to believe. So many of our clients have been limited, through no fault of their own. In the midst of working toward their goals, our society, culture, or unexpected circumstances push them even farther back.
In this moment, Jesus doesn’t ask about the context. He doesn’t doubt the story or the circumstances. He doesn’t hesitate. He just heals the man. Instantly. “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once, the man walked. A few verses down, we see the man run into Jesus at the temple. Jesus then, after the man’s immediate physical needs were met, speaks to the spiritual need, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen...”
As Christians, I think we so often want to talk to people about Heaven, about their sin, and about our great Savior before they have ears to hear. When someone is sick, hurting, scared, hungry… those immediate needs are all they can comprehend. That’s why OnRamp tends to first meet clients’ practical needs like lack of transportation before getting into deeper spiritual needs. One opens the door for the other. Our care for clients goes far beyond a vehicle or oil change, but it often starts there, just as in Jesus’ ministry to this man in John 5.
What an honor and a privilege it is to walk alongside these remarkable clients, sharing the love of Jesus with them in practical ways. What a joy to help them find their way into the pool.
