Friends That Carry You | S2E16

Welcome to another episode of the Dear God, Lettuce Pray podcast, hosted by Santana where we unpack weaponized Scripture and remove the churchy filler for genuine biblical conversations. 

On today's episode, we highlight the story of the paralyzed man and his four friends that carried him to Jesus. We discuss this story and the magnitude of biblical friendships, faith, and community.

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Transcript

Santana 0:00

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Dear God Let Us Pray podcast. I am your host, Santana. And today, before we get into the episode, I just want to remind you, if you haven't already, to please give us a follow on Apple Podcasts. We are still in the race of trying to land 100 new followers by the end of the month. And there's still time. There's still time. So yes, if you haven't already, give us a follow. Also, we are now on YouTube. So if you would rather listen to the podcast on YouTube, you can now subscribe to our channel where you will see the playlist of the episodes there. And as always, leave a review and share an episode with a friend so that conversations like this can reach more people. Yeah. Alright, so today we are gonna talk about friends who carry us to Jesus. And today's episode came really from a doom scroll, and this lady was talking about something, and it immediately made me think about the story of the paralyzed man and his four friends. And for those that want to go back and read it, you can read the story in Matthew 9. You can read a more detailed account in Mark 2, and you also can find it in Luke 5. And we've all heard the story, but I know like this time around, I wasn't really focused on the miracle. Like I found myself paying attention to the friends and the friendship aspect of it all. And you know, like friendship means something different when you've lived a little longer and experienced disappointment or grief, burnout, loneliness, or even just seasons where life felt extremely heavy. And when you think about these times, you know, think about those that stood in the gap for you. Think about those that believed for you when you were struggling to believe for yourself. And even on the flip side, being that friend that stands in the gap for someone else, or being that friend that believes when you know that your friend is struggling with believing for themselves. Ecclesiastes 4, verse 9 through 10 says, Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. So the story of the hour, the paralyzed man and the four friends. So you know, Jesus came out to teach, and of course it was a packed house. Like the crowd was huge, there was no getting through the crowd. And when the four friends saw that they could not get their paralyzed friend, because mind you, they're carrying him in a mat. So everybody got a corner, and they're carrying him in like this mat. And they were not able to get through the crowd to get to Jesus, so that did not stop them. Instead, they got on top of the roof, they created an opening. Mind you, just think about how disruptive they could have been. Don't even matter. They created an opening and they lowered their friend directly in front of Jesus. Jesus sees their faith. Jesus sees the faith of the paralyzed man. Jesus forgives the man in his sins and heals him, and this man walks away on carrying the mat that he was once lower in. Mark 2, verses 3 through 5 says, and Jesus, seeing their faith, Jesus is able to bless this man because of the faith of his friends and of course the faith of himself. But it is a beautiful, miraculous story. Now the part that stands out to me is how his friends, really everybody, the friends are unnamed. Like scripture preserves their actions, but we don't know their names, their families. We really don't know who they were, but yet thousands and thousands of years later, we are still talking about their friendship. And I absolutely love that. Proverbs 17, 17 says, a friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. So this just reminds us that friendship is far beyond like just that feeling. Like, you know, friendship in scripture is often demonstrated through action. Like these friends carried their friend, which required them to inconvenience themselves a little bit and adjust their plans, but they exerted effort. And sometimes, you know, love just looks practical. 1 John 3 18 says, Let's not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. Like be honest and do some. And you know, just a circle back, where Jesus saw their faith. Like, faith isn't always what we say. Oftentimes, faith is what faith is what we're willing to do. And their determination was a reflection of their belief. Now let's talk about the man on the mat. Because that required a lot of faith for himself. Like he had to, first and foremost, believe that Jesus is a healer and that Jesus could heal him. He had to allow himself to be carried. His faith required him to trust his friends and trust Jesus enough to let himself be placed before him. So when we think about the perspective of the man on the mat, when we think about the paralyzed man, we have to be mindful that sometimes faith looks like accepting help. Like it's so easy for us to serve and be there for others. And people that are like that, myself included, sometimes struggle with receiving help. So it's very important to note the faith that was required, or the faith that was present in the paralyzed man as well. Because being carried requires a level of humility that all of us don't have. Some of us are still working towards. I know, like for me, myself personally, I that used to be a struggle of mine. And I'm still working on it. I'm still working on it. But I most definitely can see the refinement that the Lord is doing in my life. Because there is such humility in being carried. Like it's so e I'm I'm not gonna say so easy, but some of us are so comfortable with helping others, like it's second nature. But fewer are comfortable with needing help. Like this man had to allow others to carry a burden that he could not carry. He truly could not carry this burden himself. Galatians 6 2 reads, bear one another's burdens and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. And we all, every single person listening to this podcast, every single person that's not, we all have been the man on the mat. We have all been in a situation where we've needed others to carry us, whether it's through grief or loss, financial hardship, burnout, spiritual confusion, disappointment. Like the the list can go on, but there are seasons when we all need some help. And in those seasons, we have friends that we really need. Like it's okay to have your friend that'll go to brunch or you know, go to the shoe store, take a trip, I don't know, go play golf. But it is imperative to have friendships with friends that tell us the truth in love, friends who pray, friends who who show up, friends who not only celebrate us, but challenge us, and and most importantly, friends who carry the weight without keeping score. Proverbs twenty-seven, seventeen reads, as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. And just as we need that type of friend, we are also called to be that type of friend. So in your moments of reflection, I want you to think, whose mat are you currently helping to carry? And are you willing to inconvenience yourself for someone else's well-being? When I think about everything, everything that I have been through in just the last three years long, I feel like the last several years have, you know, been up and down. But specifically, specifically from really March, April 2023 to now, I think about the season that I've been in, and I think about the friends and the acquaintances and the people that just stood in the gap for me when I truly could not carry the burdens myself. And I am absolutely forever grateful whether they served in that season, whether they're still around, maybe the or not, but the impact is still the same. It is so important to have. And think about that now. Jesus down here teaching. Crowd is packed, these folks are on the roof, like making a hole in the roof. This is not a silent job. It is a disruptive job. And they're going through it anyway, just so they can lower their friend to Jesus for healing. That's beautiful to me. The miracle is beautiful, but what it took to get there. And and this story just forever a beautiful story to me, but this story just often comes across my mind because it reminds me that God works through people. And and depending on what you need, God will send healing or encouragement, provision. Sometimes God just sends a a friend. John 13, 34 through 35 reads, love one another just as I have loved you. Do you know how much love that is? We're just only required to love each other. So as we bring this to a close, the miracle started before Jesus healed the paralyzed man. Like the miracle started when four friends decided that somebody else's struggle was worth their effort. Like, long before this man stood up and walked, long before Jesus blessed him by forgiving him of his sins and healing him to where he's able to walk out. Four friends chose compassion over convenience to help their friend. Long before Jesus said, get up and walk.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Somebody said, I'll help carry you. That part.

Santana 15:37

So I'm gonna keep wrapping this. But I want us to keep that in mind. Sometimes you have to stand in the gap for your friends. Sometimes you need to allow those friendships to stand in the gap for you. Because the beauty in the blessing is the faith that was required of the friends that brought their friend to Jesus. And we still can see that show up today. I just want to thank you all for tuning in to another episode of the Dear God Let Us Pray podcast. I am your host, Santana, and as always, thank you so much for joining me. Remember to stay connected on social media, uh, send us an email, drop some fan mail or review, and as always, I ask that you just share an episode with one friend. If you know someone that is interested in having conversations where we unpack scripture, go through stories, I ask that you share an episode with them. Who knows? We might have a new listener. Alright. Again, thank y'all so much for being here. I do not take it for granted. Remember to spread kindness, spread kindness always. Like, go out of your way to spread some kindness today. And remember, I love you. I love you dearly. I love you so, so, so much. But there is always someone who loves you even more than that, and he wants to hear from you. Alright, this is Santana signing off.