Stopped or Strengthened

Mk. 2:4  And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was.  So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.

With a fully loaded Jeep, we headed to the lake on Saturday intending to make a day of it.  After stopping for gas, ice and fishing bait, we were on our way only to be rudely interrupted by a dummy light on the dashboard signaling that the Jeep had overheated.  An obstacle had just been put in our way.

We have two choices when we are faced with obstacles.  We can either let them stop us or we can press on, break through and let them strengthen us.

Four men (v. 3), having heard of Jesus being at a house in Capernaum, carried a fifth paralytic man to Him believing for his healing.  When they arrived at the house, they could not get near Jesus because of the crowd.  An obstacle had been put in their way.  They could have given up and gone home but chose instead to do whatever it took to get to Jesus.  The four men climbed to the roof, broke through it and lowered the paralytic.  I wonder what the crowd thought and saw.  I know what Jesus saw.  He saw their faith (v. 5), resolve and determination.

To make a long story short, the paralytic man was completely healed by having not only his physical infirmity removed (vs. 11, 12) but by having his sins forgiven (v. 5) as well.  The faith of the four men and surely the paralytic man, refusing to be stopped by an obstacle was unquestionably strengthened.

Faith finds favor.  Resolve reaps reward.  Determination decides destination.

In case your wondering, after we unloaded and reloaded our gear into a different vehicle, with determination we continued on to a wonderful day at the lake enjoying family and friends.  Admittedly, at one point, we almost stopped, gave up and went home.  I'm glad, however, that we broke through the obstacle, being strengthened by it, and reached our destination.

Now, if your interested in buying a Jeep...


Sock Monkey Snippet:  Obstacles will either stop us or strengthen us.