(July 28, 2025) Mama Lava challenges us as she shares from her heart about a very important Christian principle…

The crisis was unimaginable. I couldn’t fathom what she was going through. The desperation I felt for a friend on her behalf couldn’t have come close to what she must have been feeling.

I was a step removed from the situation, but the gut punch I felt knocked me off my feet.

Finding Peace
My friends, have you ever been there?

Thankfully, falling onto my knees was the perfect posture for what needed to be done. I poured it all out to the Lord. And I received peace.

But she didn’t do that. She was out of the habit of taking her messes to God. She wasn’t ready to approach Him with her tragedy.

I felt helpless to help her. I knew God was the only one who could bring real comfort and healing. But if she wouldn’t go to Him, what then?

I went to a confidant and prayer warrior friend of mine. I asked her to pray with me over the situation. She did… and what she said next brought new tears to my eyes. She told me to remember the paralytic from Mark 2, pointing out that he was healed because of the faith of his friends. I had read the story many times, but I’d never grasped that truth. Here is the story:

Friends’ Participation
‘A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that He had come home. 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 paralysed 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 paralysed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

‘Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

‘Immediately Jesus knew in His spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and He said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralysed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”’ (Mark 2:1-12 emphasis mine).

Faithful Praying  
We aren’t told whether the paralytic had faith. But we are told that his friends did. When Jesus saw their faith, He forgave and healed. This was yet another demonstration of God’s amazing grace.

How encouraging is that? And what a responsibility we have to care for others!

• There is so much happening all around us these dark days.
• People are unable and unwilling to get themselves to the feet of Jesus.
• But we can take them there! And we don’t even have to hoist them onto the roof and burrow through.
• We just need to exercise our faith and pray.

Does that calm your anxiety? It does mine! And it motivates me. I want to be someone who takes my loved ones to Jesus daily. I also want friends who will take me there when I am too broken to take myself!

And about my loved one from the top of this post… I’ve repeatedly laid her at the feet of Jesus through my prayers of faith. He has renewed her, strengthened her, and given her reason to trust Him again. Oh, how I praise Him!

The company we choose to be is important. And the company we choose to keep can make all the difference.

Let’s choose well!
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Mama Lava delights to share openly and honestly from her heart. She sincerely believes in making the big world a bit smaller through caringly connecting, that Jesus wants to remove our anxieties and give us His joy. In her encouragements, Mama Lava regularly tells of life experiences from an unapologetically Christian viewpoint. Link: Mama Lava’s Back Porch (Doses of Maternal Love).
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