Devotionals

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One of my favorite Bible stories is found in Mark Chapter 2:1-12. This is the story of Jesus healing a paralyzed man. I know there are a lot of healing stories in the Gospels, but this one is my favorite because of how the man comes to Jesus. Luke 2:3-4 says "Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on" What a tremendous example of faith. These men had to believe that Jesus would heal the man to go through that much trouble.
There is no doubt that this story is a story of great faith and how great faith can bring healing, but that is not why I like it. I like it because I think it is also a tremendous example of the strength that God provides through our friends and family. The paralytic no doubt had just as much faith in Jesus as the men who carried them there did, but he could not have gotten to Jesus without the help of his friends. This story shows us that sometimes the way God gives us strength is by sending people into our life to help us. Our job is to accept the help.
Accepting help can be hard for many of us. It can be especially hard for those of us who are disabled. This is because we all have this need to show how strong we are. Yet, God wants him to rely on him from our strength. That is why he told Paul that his power is made perfect in our weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). Therefore, we must be willing to accept help from others when God sends hep our way.
God will always give us the strength we need when we need it, but we have to be willing to accept it in whatever form he sends it. He may not make it so you can do everything you want to own you own by some supernatural means, but He just may send some great friends and family to help you get done what you need done. The best example, I can think of is that he may not heal you of a disease supernaturally, but he may lead you to the right doctor who can give you the right medicine and/or care to heal you.
This reminds me of an old Joke. The once was a man who lived near a rive. One day the river started to flood, and a police officer came in a car to take him to higher ground, but the man refused to go saying that he believe God would rescue him. After a while the water was so deep that some people came by boat to take him to dry ground, but the mad still refused to go because he said he believed God would rescue him. Eventually the water got so high that the man had to go to his roof. That is when the Coast Guard sent a helicopter to get him, but the man refused to going saying that he believed God would rescue him. Finally that man drowned and went to heaven. When he got to heaven he went to God and asked "Why didn't you rescue me?" To which God replied "I sent you a car, a boat, and a helicopter! What more did you want?"
No, God may not give us supernatural strength to do what we need to do, but he will give us the strength to get though life if we ask him. But, the trick is we must use the strength he sends. Who or what has God sent you to give you strength?

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