Sometimes life is tough. That's when friends are most needed.
Sometimes we get stuck in life. Emotionally crippled by job loss, divorce, loss of a loved one, or financial problems. Or even worse, being brutally victimized.
Or perhaps you know someone right now who is suffering the after effects of any one or maybe more than one of the above. Your friend seems stuck, unable to deal appropriately with their circumstance, unable to pick up the pieces of their lives and move on.
I’d like to revisit the story of the man whose friends carried him to Jesus on a mat. He was paralyzed and so incapable of going there by himself. When they got to where Jesus was speaking, they couldn’t get in. Couldn’t even get near the door. They stood on the outer edges of the impassable crowds with their friend on a mat between them.
Did they give up? Did they make excuses and go home? No, they stopped and thought about how they could accomplish their mission. And the answer came to them: they climbed up on the roof, dug a hole and lowered their friend down to Jesus.
See, when nothing seems to be working, nothing seems to be going right, that’s when our friendship is especially important. The very moment when we are most tempted to give in is the exact moment we need to step up, to take our efforts and our friendship a level higher.
That point of being stuck is often where we find the most creative and effective measures. It’s when we are most tempted to walk away, to say there is nothing more I can do, that we most need to stick it out, and be supportive.
So when you’re tempted to walk away, to say “I’ve done everything I could,” just ask yourself this: Have you gone up to the roof yet?
Margaret Jean 