Mar 13, 2007

The Obstacles In Our Way

On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. 18And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, 19but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. 20And when he saw their faith, he said, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." Luke 5:17-20

I heard a sermon on this passage several weeks ago from our pastor Joe Ryer. Joe made the point that the friends of the paralytic refused to let any obstacles, large or small, stand in their way. Think about it for a minute. Their friend was paralyzed and probably hadn't walked for decades, so they hauled him around on a stretcher. People were packed into every crack of the house, making it impossible to get through the door. So they went up onto the roof, cut out a large hole, and then helped their paralyzed friend rappel down into the house. These guys absolutely refused to give up. They clung to hope like a pit bull locks on to a piece of meat. Why? Because they knew who was in the house. They knew that Jesus could heal their friend in an instant. So they pressed on.

I face obstacles when I pray for Ian. I face fears, doubts, and lots of unbelief. But Joe's message sparked a fire in my heart. I will not let these obstacles stop me from praying for my friend Ian. By God's grace, I resolve to keep praying, over and over, without fail. I resolve to bring my friend Ian to the Savior again and again. Will you join with me? Let's resolve to continue pressing through all obstacles and praying for our friend.

-Stephen A

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have been listening to John Piper preach on Romans 8, and he talked about the verses where the Spirit pray for us. (26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because [6] the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.)

So, the Spirit is praying for us - and Piper goes on the say that the Spirit praying for us in areas where we don't know God's will. He's praying for us when we are suffering. He's praying for Ian - interceding according to God's will for Ian - the will of God that we do not know ourselves. We don't know the progress Ian is going to make, or how long it will take for him to make that progress. The Spirit, however, does know, and is asking God to grant that progress in his timing. And the amazing part is that the Spirit always gets his request granted, and those requests are for our good.

Amazing! The Spirit is interceding on our behalf, and is asking for what is best for us! Let us keep praying, knowing that the Spirit is also doing the same - the main difference is that he KNOWS what is best.

Anonymous said...

Yes I will pray that Ian will sing!! Thanks for posting. My husband and I have not only been praying for all of you but I have sent some of your things to encourage some that are hurting so they could be encouraged by the same God that has been encouraging you.
Larissa,I showed a friend of mine your story that was on 2-14-07 on Clarolyn's blog. God use it to encourage her in trusting God in her situation at this time.
Thanks for you faithfulness and honesty.