This post on Allowing Others to Carry You was written by Jeffrey Chen. Jeffrey has a passion for sharing God’s love with those around him. He blogs at The Wayvy Life.
I hate asking for help. I think a lot of us do. In America, we live in a society where independence and autonomy are emphasized. Where the belief is that if you just try hard enough yourself, you can do anything. Where you need to stand up and fight for yourself to be successful in a dog eat dog world. As a result, we try to do everything ourselves. We believe we can thrive on our own.
But, the reality is that we can’t. We can’t survive on our own. Life is too harsh. We alone are not strong enough to take on the burdens and challenges of life. As much as we like to believe we are superheros, there are times when we need to swallow our pride and allow others to pick us up.
In Mark 2, Jesus preaches to a crowd in a packed house in Capernaum. While he is preaching, four men dig a hole in the roof, and lower a paralyzed man on a mat in front of Jesus so that He can heal the man. I have read this story numerous times, yet never really thought much of it. It was just another account of Jesus’ healing powers and the importance of faith to me.
But, that changed recently when I heard a sermon at church the other week on this passage. In the sermon, Pastor Albert Tate focuses on the perspective of the paralyzed man. He preaches about how this man had to admit he was weak and needed healing. He also had to come to terms with the fact that he could not heal himself or find somebody else to heal him without some help. The man understands he needs others to pick him up – literally. So, as embarrassing as it may have been, he has his four friends carry him on a mat and lower him through a hole they dig in the roof of a random house. Talk about effort on behalf of his friends! This was no small favor.
We ourselves are all paralyzed at times. If not physically, there are times when we are emotionally or mentally suffering. We may try to solve our problems ourselves, but we simply can’t and instead suffer alone. I encourage you to be like this paralyzed man. To admit when you need somebody to “carry” you and seek help from others. You can start small, such as asking for a ride or even just a hand carrying something. You will see that you are not a burden or inconvenience on others. You will see the joy others get from helping you, just as you get from helping others. Then you will build up the courage to really let others know what you are suffering with, and they will pick you up, carry you on a mat, dig a hole in a roof, and gently lower you to Jesus without hesitation. And He will provide you with the healing you need.
As always, please feel free to reach out to me for feedback, questions, or anything else. I’m happy to chat about anything and everything. I hope you could take away something helpful from this post. You can reach me at thewayvylife@gmail.com!
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