Standing in the Gap

 "Some men came, bringing to Him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. Since they could not get 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. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralyzed man, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.'" Mark 2: 3-5 (emphasis added)

    Since I was a child, I have had two great fears. One is surgery and the other is paralysis. Having seen a woman in a wheelchair while on a family vacation, my sympathy soared, yet I didn't want to trade places with her.

    Do you know anyone who is paralyzed, if not in the physical sense, then perhaps by fear, anxiety, depression or mental chains too strong for them to break? Crippled by what binds them, they lie on mats, exhausted by despair, unable to move unless someone helps them. 

    In the above account, the Scripture says Jesus saw their faith, meaning the hope in the eyes of the man's friends and, perhaps, that of the paralyzed man as well, for who would not want to be healed? What if the four men had tired of the continuous needs of the man and, with a backward wave of the hand, dismissed him and turned to their own way? Thanks be to God, they took him to the One who could save him. Can you imagine, the five of them on their way home? What magnanimous joy propelled their winged feet as they ran and loped with their friend, and how Jesus's face must have beamed as He watched their frolic.

    "I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one." (Ezekiel 22:30) "The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene." (Isaiah 59: 15, 16)

    Is there someone for whom you can intervene? Dig through the barrier and bring them to Jesus. Don't give up hope.

"A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out." Isaiah 42:3