When God Shows Up: Real Stories of FaithSample

Steph*

“...One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal the sick.” Luke 5:17, NLT

Steph walked into her foster parents’ home on her birthday. Her small group of mentors through Stand in the Gap’s Life Launch program had just taken her out to celebrate. To her surprise, they’d worked with her foster family to prepare balloons, a cake, and gifts at the house. It was an intimate, simple celebration, but it was also the first one she’d ever had. Steph was turning 17 and had never had a birthday party.

In the Gospel story, the action of the paralyzed man’s friends is pretty dramatic. People had “come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem.” The friends in this story could have walked a great distance, carrying their needs for the journey AND an adult man on a mat. After navigating the crowds, they climbed to the roof and removed tiles with their hands. They lowered their friend down in front of Jesus while he was talking. They worked hard, and they made a scene.

The journey to Jesus isn’t fast. It isn’t a “quick fix” or a shallow repair. Sometimes it requires the forethought, intentionality, planning, and perseverance of a long journey.

Relationships are like this. Bringing people to Jesus requires commitment. But, along the way, our actions can be simple.

The way we can lead people to Jesus is by showing love. It’s carrying a friend a great distance and pulling tiles off a roof when necessary. It’s also cake and balloons and presents. It’s throwing a birthday party for a teenager who has never been celebrated. In the process, wounds and sins that keep people from Christ are healed by his miraculous work.

What is a relatively small action today that you could take on behalf of someone who needs to encounter Jesus? List the people that you are carrying to Jesus. Then make a concrete plan to show them the love of God through your actions.

*Name changed to protect privacy