Many years back, I was part of a wonderful group of pastors who gathered on a weekly basis to pray for revival in the Highlands and in the nation. Praying with those pastors was one of the high points of my Christian journey. One day, while we gathered for prayer, I shared a personal need. I had been in a season of depression and couldn’t have named one reason why. That day there was a new pastor present. When I shared what was going on, he looked at me and simply said, “If you had faith, you wouldn’t have that problem.” I determined I would never again be transparent when he was there. I’m convinced, as Christians, we need to be free to share our struggles with one another.
His statement, “If you had faith…” causes me to reflect on today’s passage. It doesn’t say when Jesus saw the paralytic’s faith, it says when He saw their faith; the faith of the four men who carried him on the stretcher. The faith of the four who climbed to the top of the roof and ripped it open to get the crippled man to Jesus. Sometimes when people are in the midst of life’s battles they don’t have faith for their solution. Maybe our faith for them is the answer. As I reflect on it, this is a beautiful picture of the Christian life; to pick up the wounded and take them to Jesus. Be someone’s stretcher today.