No Matter What, Get Them to JESUS!
“...and the power of the Lord was present to heal them. And behold, men brought in a bed a man which was taken with a palsy: and they sought means to bring him in, and to lay him before him. And when they could not find by what way they might bring him in because of the multitude, they went upon the housetop, and let him down through the tiling with his couch into the midst before Jesus. And when he saw their faith, he said unto him, Man, thy sins are forgiven thee. I say unto thee, arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.”
I am amazed by this passage of scripture! To love oneself enough to tear up someone’s roof in order to get to a healer is not surprising. It would not even be surprising for someone to do this for a parent or sibling, a child or spouse. However, scripture does not tell us that this man was related in any way to the four who carried him. They were just men helping another man and I find that exceptional. Why? Look at the obstacles they had to overcome:
How were his living conditions? Did they have to battle the smell of bad hygiene? Was he a large man and very heavy to carry? How bulky was his bed?
When they saw the crowd leading up to the meeting place, they could have just turned around and gave up: “Sorry Joseph, we tried, but you are never going to see the healer with all those people in front of you.”
Finally, they get through the crowd only to realize that all was in vain because there was no way to get him into the house which was packed to capacity. No one could blame them for giving up then: “Perhaps we can help you another time Joseph, but today, this task is impossible for us to carry out.” They could have said that, but they didn’t.
They continued to bear their burden up the stairs to the roof and then through the roof!
By the time most of us saw the crowd, we would have given up, but only after patting ourselves on the back for all the effort we exerted trying to help the poor man. These four men would put most Christians to shame today with their determination to get that man to Jesus. Imagine if we could show that same determination during our time of praying and fasting for the families of the Sandy Hook victims! True, we don’t know them, but so what. They may not have a palsy of the legs, but we can only imagine how paralyzed their hearts are after what they have gone through. They need to get to Jesus, and we have the opportunity to carry them there.
No matter what obstacles you have to fight through during the time we have remaining to pray for these families, I want to encourage you to hold on to your burden and keep pushing through! Remember, there are others carrying the burden with you, so you are not alone. We want our intercession to drop them right in front of the only One who can forgive their sins, heal their hearts and give them peace during this storm.
There are times when we are all “sick of the palsy” and need someone to intercede for us. It’s not pleasant being stuck in a bed with no way to move and no one to carry you. Remember the last time you felt the “lack of prayer support” from those around you and let that fuel your determination to keep pushing for those families. The more of us that are carrying the burden, the easier our prayer times will be. Remember, we are a pride. We do life together. We hunt together. We raise our young together. We rule our territory together, and these families have become a part of our territory for a little while. They must be held up until they are allowed to stand on their own.