And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four
men. And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed
the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on
which the paralytic lay. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the
paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:3-5)
Quite a number of
years ago I was meditating my way through John 4 about Jesus’ interactions with
the Samaritan woman. After a bit, I noticed that when Jesus said something to
her, it was like a “higher” thought than she had ever heard. This was followed
by what appeared to be a “deeper” awareness of something about herself. Each “higher”
thought set the stage for the “deeper”, and each “deeper” thought prepared her
heart for the next “higher”. I was fascinated.
No, I’m not turning
this into a doctrine, and neither am I claiming Jesus always works that way
(though I keep seeing it in other places). It’s simply that there is something
to be said for how Jesus did this, and I see him doing it in me all the time.
Yesterday was an
amazing “higher” for me. First, it was in my time with God in his word and
prayer. Then it was out on my prayer walk where my praying about these things
made me truly want a “tears-roofs-open” kind of faith, particularly in a prayer
group. Although the biblical account of the paralyzed man was familiar, what
God was doing with me through this Scripture was something new, at least in a
going-into-the-next-grade kind of way.
But last night and
this morning I found myself in a “deeper” where so many heartaches and sorrows
came together and left me longing for things that have been a world of
attachment-pain for me. It almost felt like… well… you know… being PARALYZED!!!
The short story of
this is that I was reminded that all kinds of people came to Jesus in all kinds
of ways and if I felt paralyzed and alone I could call out to Jesus myself in
the faith that he will not only make me well, but also make me someone who
unites with others to bring other broken people to Jesus.
So another
prayer walk for a paralyzed soul, another “deeper” that already wonders what
the next “higher” will be, and more hoping that being honest in my journey gives someone
else the hope and faith that anyone can come to Jesus from wherever they are
and however they find themselves.
Jesus is the
constant, and every story (historical account) of Scripture invites us to Jesus
no matter how uniquely that means we must come.
© 2024
Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)
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