When God Shows Up: Real Stories of Faithಮಾದರಿ

Kendall*

“'...But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.' So he said to the paralyzed man, 'I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.' Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God.” Luke 5:24-25, NLT

Kendall’s husband, Tom, was “the foundation of [her] life.” When he passed away, she became someone she didn’t recognize. “In spite of my wonderful sons and great friends, I was alone, I was afraid, and I was stuck. For the next two and a half years, I searched for help but found nothing.”

Eventually, Kendall found a Stand in the Gap for Widows small group 30 miles from her home. The first time, “I was almost too intimidated to get out of my car. But when I went inside, I found women who understood exactly what I was going through, and I felt like I was home.”

A couple of weeks later, Kendall was watching a movie when a song came on that had been meaningful in her marriage. “I completely lost it,” she remembers. “So I texted some of those widows that I had just met, and immediately I felt safe and seen for the first time in almost three years. That’s the moment I started feeling like myself again.”

Today, Kendall still participates in the group that she says “saved [her] life.” But she is also forming another small group in her hometown because “I don’t want widows to look for help and find nothing.” She has participated in workshops for widows, offering the support she found to many others.

In the Gospel story, Jesus tells the man to “take your mat.” This is more than Jesus asking the man to tidy up after himself.

The mat, for this man, was a symbol of his sickness. It was a tangible piece of the grief, pain, and paralysis that he experienced. But by standing to pick it up and carry it home, while “praising God,” the mat became redeemed. Instead of a symbol of suffering, it was a glorified reminder of his healing.

Kendall’s “mat” is her ministry to widows. Without her own experience of deep suffering and loss, she wouldn’t have known God’s redemptive healing, and she wouldn’t have been able to share it with so many others.

Do you have any tangible reminders of the miracles God has worked in your life? If so, hold them today and praise God for his faithfulness. If not, what are the lasting traits or areas of ministry that have been born out of your suffering? Meditate on those gifts today.

*Name changed to protect privacy