They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him 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. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven” (Mark 2:2-5 NIV).

The past few weeks we have talked a lot about the purpose that God has given us. An underlying theme is that we each have our own God-given purposes. We saw this last week in Chatham Serves, our service project event. People’s individual talents really shone through that event - creative folks made cards for the elderly in our community, those with a green thumb gardened for some elementary schools, and handy people built ramps and repaired houses.

What about those who don’t consider themselves to have a particular talent for a certain situation? Are they still made with a purpose?

This week’s passage is a passage that many people have likely heard before. Jesus is preaching in a small house when suddenly a group of men lowers a paralyzed man through the roof to be healed. Jesus tells the man to get up and walk, and so he does.

The paralyzed man didn’t seem to have a purpose - he could not find a specific talent like everyone else could. His friends had a purpose, and it was to bring the man to Jesus for healing, to have great faith. But the man also had a purpose: bring honor and glory to Jesus by being a vessel for His miracle!

The purpose of this man was to receive Jesus’ gift of mercy and healing and then to get up and walk to display His glory. We may feel as if our faith is paralyzed at times, like we cannot move closer to God because of something we said or did. But for those of us who feel like we are missing a talent for a certain situation, there is something even more we can do. We can open ourselves up to receive Jesus and his forgiveness, and in doing so bless those around us too!

Do you feel like you are paralyzed in your relationship with the Lord? Ask God to use you as a way to show his glory to the world, and pray that you can receive his working through you. Maybe you will even become a vessel for him to perform miracles in your life or the lives of others!