Day 4: Who Am I Without My Mat?

For thirty-eight years, the mat was part of the man's identity. It represented his condition, his limitations and the life he had always known. It was more than something he lay on. It was a symbol of who he had become.

Then Jesus healed him and gave an unexpected instruction: "Pick up your mat and walk." Why take the mat? Why not leave it behind?

In Day 4 of The Courage to Get Up, we explore the challenge of living beyond the identities that have been shaped by our pain, disappointment and past experiences. Sometimes God changes our circumstances before we have fully adjusted to seeing ourselves differently. The healing may have happened, but our thinking still needs to catch up.

We'll examine how easily we can become attached to labels, roles and stories that were never meant to define us permanently. Whether it is failure, rejection, fear, loss or limitation, there are times when God calls us to let go of an old identity and embrace who He says we are.

The man at Bethesda could no longer define himself by what had held him back. Jesus was inviting him into a new reality, one where his condition was no longer the most important thing about him.

This study challenges us to consider what we may still be carrying from a previous season and whether God is calling us to step into a new identity rooted in His truth rather than our past experiences.

Scripture Focus: John 5:1–15

Key Question: If God removed the thing that has defined you for years, who would you become?

Join us as we explore the courage required to leave behind old identities, embrace God's perspective and walk confidently into the future He has prepared.

The Courage to Get Up – From Waiting to Walking. From Limitation to Freedom.

Seek. Discern. Obey.

Thank you for joining me in the Word & Prayer Room. If this study has encouraged you, please follow the podcast and share it with someone who may be seeking God's direction. Remember, God is not distant or silent. He is able to make His will known to those who sincerely seek Him. Until next time, keep listening for His voice, keep trusting His word, and keep walking by faith. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Hello and welcome to day four of this study series Courage to Get Up. Today's focus is quite a provocative topic, and it's called Who Will I Be Without My Mat? Who will I be without my mat? Well we're staying on the same scripture that we focused on in day three, taken from Saint John chapter five and verse eight, which reads, Then Jesus said to him, Get up, pick up your mat and walk. Remember in day three, we explored what it means to trust God's voice when it appears to contradict our reality. We saw how both the royal official in St. John chapter 4 and the man at Bethesda were asked to respond to the word of Jesus before they could see the outcome. Their courage was not found in certainty or evidence, remember, but in their willingness to trust the one who spoke. Now, as we move into day four, we encounter a different challenge. The question is no longer whether the man will trust Jesus' voice. The question is what happens when the thing that has defined him for 38 years is no longer part of his story. I believe that one of the most overlooked aspects of this miracle is that Jesus was not simply changing the man's circumstances, he was changing the narrative the man had been living with for almost four decades. Remember, for 38 years this man had been known by his condition. People may not have known his name, but they knew his story. He was the man who could not walk, the man who lay by the pool, the man who never seemed to get his opportunity. His condition had become the lens through which others saw him, and perhaps the lens through which he saw himself. Now, this is one of the hidden consequences of prolonged struggle. Because over time a challenge can move from being something we experience to becoming something we actually identify with. What begins as a circumstance gradually becomes part of our personal identity. Now most people wouldn't consciously choose this, would they? Yet it happens more often than we realize. You see, we start introducing ourselves through our disappointments, our failures, our wounds, or our limitations. The struggle becomes the story. It becomes the framework through which we understand ourselves. And the danger is not simply that we remain stuck, the danger is that we become attached to the version of ourselves that was formed in the struggle. Now, when Jesus told the man to get up, he was doing more than restoring mobility. He was confronting an identity that has shaped this man for over 38 years. This man now had to answer a few questions. Who was he if he was no longer the man beside the pool? Who was he if he was no longer defined by his limitations? Who was he if the story he had been living with for decades was no longer true? Most people assume that change becomes easy once the breakthrough arrives. But in reality, breakthrough often introduces a different challenge. We must learn how to live in a reality that no longer matches the identity we have carried for years. This is why some people struggle even after positive change takes place. You see, a person may receive a new opportunity but still think like someone who has always been overlooked. They may enter a healthy relationship but continue carrying the fears created by unhealthy ones. They may experience God's restoration while still viewing themselves through the lens of their past. The external circumstances change, but the internal narrative seems to remain the same. You see, Jesus was not interested in giving the man a temporary improvement or a temporary fix. He was inviting him into a completely different future. Yet stepping into that future required more than physical healing. It required a renewed understanding of who he was. And this is a challenge that many believers face today. You see, sometimes we ask God to remove the mat while quietly holding on to the identity that was formed while lying on the mat. We pray for freedom, but continue thinking like captives. We pray for healing, but continue defining ourselves by the wound. We pray for restoration, but continue viewing ourselves through the lens of the lost. The miracle at Bethesda reminds us that God's work is never limited to changing what is happening around us. He's also interested and investing in transforming what is happening within us. The man could no longer live as though he belonged beside the pool because Jesus had changed his story. Amen. And the same is true for us. When God moves in our lives, there comes a point when we must stop introducing ourselves through the chapters He has already redeemed. We must stop defining ourselves by circumstances that no longer have the right to shape our future. The courage to get up is not only the courage to trust God's voice, it is also the courage to embrace the person God is calling us to become. So here are three takeaways, and remember we're studying the topic: who am I without my mat? Number one, long-term struggles can quietly become a part of our identity if we're not careful. Number two, God's desire is not only to change our circumstances but also to transform how we see ourselves. And number three, lasting breakthroughs often require us to let go of identities that no longer align with God's work in our lives. So let's go to the application, and you may notice that many of the applications throughout this series encourage you to invite a trusted person into the journey, and this is intentional. You see, while personal reflection is of course important, lasting transformation rarely happens in isolation. The courage to get up is often strengthened when we allow trusted, spiritually mature people to walk alongside us, challenge our thinking, pray with us, and help us see what we cannot see for ourselves. And I believe God frequently uses community as part of the process of healing, growth, and change. So for today's reflection, take some time to reflect on how you describe yourself when speaking about your life, your challenges, and your future. Are there experiences, disappointments or labels that have become a part of your identity? Perhaps you still see yourself primarily through the lens of a past failure, a painful relationship, a missed opportunity, or a long-standing struggle. And then, as before, choose a trusted prayer partner, mentor, or mature Christian friend, and share one area where you believe your identity may have become too closely connected to a past circumstance. Ask them what strengths, gifts, or qualities they see in you that you may overlook because you are still viewing yourself through an old story. And then spend time praying together and ask God to reveal any identity that has been built around limitation rather than the truth of his word. Ask him to help you to see yourself not through the lens of what happened to you, but through the lens of who he says you are becoming. So let's close in prayer. And before we pray, let's spend a few moments thanking God for the truth of 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17 that declares, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. Amen. The old has gone, the new is here. I feel like reading that again. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation not is coming but has come. The old has gone, the new is here. Begin to thank God that he sees you beyond the mat. Thank him that he knows your name, your future, and your potential. Amen. Thank him that your struggles are not your identity, your setbacks are not your destiny, and your past does not have the final word. Thank him for every evidence of his grace, every evidence of his provision and faithfulness that has brought you to this point. And finally, thank him that he is still at work in your life. Amen. Shaping you into the person he created you to be. Father, give us the courage not only to receive your transformation, but also to live as people whose story has been changed by your grace. And Father, we thank you that you hear us when we pray. We give you glory, we give you honor, and continue to thank you for the work that you're doing in our lives right now. Thank you, Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Well, I trust that this session has really challenged and positively disrupted something within you, and that you'll find at least one thing that you can focus on as part of your reflection and not just focus, but the action that you can now take. Well, God bless you, Richley, and look forward to seeing you in day five.