A Week of HopeSample

Care Enough to Carry

Some men came, bringing to Him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” -- Mark 2:3-5 (NIV)

We live in a self-centered society and a self-sufficient world. Although the principle of working hard to accomplish your goals is good, you will eventually need more strength.

The man in this story didn’t just run out of strength in his legs; he didn’t have any strength in his legs to begin with. That, combined with an overwhelming crowd, prevented him from getting to the one who could heal him. However, where his strength was lacking, his friends were able to help. We don’t know how long they had been friends; we only know they cared enough to carry.

In difficult seasons, you need friends who can carry you. Not just carry you but bring you to the right place. If your friends carry you to someplace that doesn’t help you get what you need, they aren’t the right type of friends.

Who have you surrounded yourself with? I don’t know your situation, and I don’t doubt you are going through something difficult. Amid this difficulty, who has a voice in your life? What are they telling you to do? What these friends did for the paralyzed man is what we need in our lives -- they took him to Jesus.

Next Step

Finding the right friends to surround yourself with takes work. A good question to ask yourself is whether you and your friends are going in the same direction. Do they pursue Jesus like you do? If you don’t have that, connect with a ministry at your local church and use that as a jumping-off place to find those friends. The local church's purpose is to connect us with others as we walk along our faith journey.