Who Is Your Guy?

"When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”"

Luke 5:20 NKJV

The title probably reminded you of the popular song which took over TikTok some months ago, if I’m not mistaken, and you may be wondering why I’m bringing it up here. Well, it is literally what came to mind after reading chapter 5 of the book of Luke. 

Jesus was going about teaching the Word of God, and performing miracles. The people were so amazed at what was happening that there were large crowds gathered at His feet waiting for the next parable or miracle. They had travelled far and wide - from Judea, Galilee and even Jerusalem to witness and experience Jesus in action.

It was in the middle of one of these gatherings that Jesus saw some men bringing down their parayzed friend on a stretcher through the roof. The Bible says that the men tried to go through the front door but the crowd made it impossible for them to get through. So what did they do? They came up with a way to make sure their friend met Jesus and received his healing.

I don’t think they came with a ladder, or ropes and I highly doubt that they expected to climb a roof top to get their friend to see Jesus for his miracle.

When they saw the obstacle that they were facing, they did not only use their brains, resources and physical strength, but most importantly, they tapped into their faith. It was their faith that pushed them to seek healing for their friend, regardless of what it took.

I presume they had to look for a ladder, to get to the top of the building. They might have even had to use their own money to get the tools they needed. Once they managed to get to the roof, they had to remove the tiles, and then create a gap wide enough that they could lower their friend safely through. Forget about tiredness - it wasn’t going to stop them.

They did whatever they had to do to make sure their friend encountered the Savior in his time of trouble!

Now, to my question. Who is your guy? Who is in your tribe? Do you have faith filled friends who will help you encounter Jesus when you can’t do it on your own? Are the people you call friends going to use their resources to push you towards Jesus no matter how thick the crowd is? Or are you that person to your friends?

The Bible says, "Jesus saw the faith of the friends and said to the sick man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”" Isn’t that interesting? This sick man received his breakthrough because of the faith of his friends. It wasn’t even about his faith in that moment.

Luke tells us that the paralyzed man ended up carrying the stretcher he was brought in on, and went home glorifying God because his friends had faith!

The friends we surround ourselves with are important, especially for the days when our faith alone isn’t enough. Think about the impact a community of faith had on this man, and how multiple communities of such faith can change the world we live in. I know I want to be a part of such a revolution and I bet you’d want to too.

Let’s build our faith in Jesus, and change the world together. 

Love,

Alice