Being faithful friends...

Because of the faith of the man's friends, Jesus said to the man, "Your sins are forgiven, take up your mat and walk."
~ Luke 5:20
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"My faith is exhausted," a woman shared with me.

One of the things about the man who was paralyzed, carried by friends, and then lowered through the roof of a home by friends after digging through layers of materials, who then got the man to the footstool of Christ, is the word "friend."

Have you ever simply reached a point where you doubt your own faith, and whether your faith is sufficient?

I meet people all the time who seem to sense some kind of limit to their faith. When this happens, I will often then share with the person the story of the paralyzed man who was forgiven and healed by Jesus. The healing of the man happens, not because of the man, but because Jesus sees the great faith of the man's friends who overcame great obstacles to get the man to Jesus.

While it took the initiative of the man to stand and to take that which once held him, the mat, and to walk after Jesus tells him to walk, but the healing would not have been possible if it had not been for the determination of the friends, and their faith in Jesus.

So when someone tells me of their struggle to have faith, I share the story of this man, and then say, "Then let me be one of those who will carry you today."

Even still, we are reminded to allow that which we carry, holds us down, or paralyzes us, to be given over to Christ.

We are to be present for one another, especially when we struggle to find our faith, or when we find we are paralyzed.

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2018