Happy Labor Day, Dear Friends,
How does God see us through the difficulties and adversities of life? I’m sure you’ve observed, as I have, that God’s primary means for working in the world is not the supernatural miracle, in which He comes in and violates all the laws of nature that He Himself established, in order to just rescue us. Instead, most often God uses people.
We are responsible for helping one another. Paul says it this way in Galatians: “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2). When God wants to help us make it through the tough times, he sends people our way. What we need in those times is stretcher-bearers. We need people who will carry our stretcher when we ourselves can’t walk.
There is a story in Mark, chapter 2, that I really love. It captures the idea of what stretcher-bearers really look like. “Then some men came, bringing to Jesus a paralyzed man, 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 by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on” (Mark 2:4). I love the way this story ends: “When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk, you can go home.'”
Who are your stretcher-bearers? Who are the people, at 2:00 in the morning, when the wheels come off your life, that you’re going to call? And you know they’re not going to be upset that you called, and in a moment, they’re going to be at your house to carry you. Who are the people who take care of you when you’re sick? Who mows your yard when you can’t get out to mow it? Who will do the laundry for you? Who are your stretcher-bearers?
But here’s how it works: The way you end up having stretcher-bearers is to become a stretcher-bearer for someone else. You invest in other people’s lives. You sacrifice. You go to the hospital, even though you’re tired. You show up when they’re in need. You invest in them, and you love them, and you act as Christ’s hands and voice.
A lifetime of that produces other stretcher-bearers in your own life, who are going to carry you when times get tough.
When Jesus saw their faith, he healed the man.
Bruce Jones, Pastor
Imagine Church
