Luke 5:20 When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
Throughout life, we often question and wonder God’s hand in our life. What are the things He is willing to heal us from, bless us with, or take us from. We come to the feet of God asking for this and for that. I myself have witnessed God’s healing power in friends and people they know simply through the power of prayer. In all of the asking, what is it that we are truly searching for?
In the story of the leper healed by Jesus, He tells the leper not to tell anyone but to do what is customary after being healed - see the priest and give an offering - and go his way. Yet many people still found out and when they came to be healed of their infirmities, Jesus departed to the wilderness to pray. There are two ways we could see this story. In these moments alone, it reminds us that there are moments for healing and there are times where we must deal with our infirmities for a greater purpose. It also raises the question, are we just coming to Jesus because we need something for ourselves because we heard it from someone else?
Yet the story of the paralytic man was different. We know that by faith, his friends lowered him through the roof so that he could be present before Jesus. There was no announcement of what the man needed other than the obvious, but simply to be in the presence of Jesus, whether to hear the word or to be healed. It would be safe to say that the man was seeking healing, but the healing he received was far greater than just a physical one. For when the man was finally in the presence of Jesus, it wasn’t his physical ailment that was healed first, but his sins were forgiven.
The faith of his friends had to be strong. To go the lengths they did when they could have turned away. When realizing they couldn’t get in through the door, they could have easily said, “Let’s try for another opportunity or another day. This is too difficult.” When we have an opportunity to be before Jesus, we must seize the opportunity immediately, because tomorrow is not promised. We may not get an opportunity like the one at present. And God is always One to make a way even when it doesn’t seem like there is one if we are faithful in seeking His presence.
Our testimonies can be powerful stories of what God has done for us but we must remind the hearer that we don’t follow God because of what He has done for us, but for who He is. Many of us seek physical healing first, a temporary thing here on earth, over spiritual healing that can grant us salvation. We must ensure our inner being is clean and not dead like the pharisees who questioned Jesus’ legitimacy. As we seek the presence of God, may we lean on faith in Him, seek spiritual healing, and trust His hand will be with us in the physical.