Do you remember the story of the man in Mark 2 who was paralyzed and lived on a mat?
When Jesus came to town, his friends wanted him to see Jesus and receive healing but the room where Jesus was preaching in was too crowded. So 4 of his friends picked him up… carried him to the rooftop… dug a hole through the roof… and lowered him in with ropes.
Once Jesus saw this man, he spoke healing immediately.
Isn’t that a gorgeous picture of friendship? Enviable, almost. They loved this friend so much they were willing to go to great lengths for him! He was worth it!
Think how hard it must have been to carry this crippled man on a mat. Think how hard it was to hoist him up to the roof and then lower him into the room where Jesus was teaching. If one of them had let go of the mat or the rope, the paralyzed man most certainly would have fallen. They all lifted him up together.
I identify with that paralytic man on some levels. That mat was his wilderness. It’s where God had him and it was hard and difficult. But God gave him friends to hold him up on his mat and help carry him through his difficult and challenging times. The bottom line is that sometimes we just can’t do it ourselves and we need our friends to help us through things.
Do you love others enough to carry their mat?
