The Chosen and Friends: God With UsSample

Take Heart
From Brandon Lake

Jesus heals the paralytic. A biblical story about healing. Pretty straightforward, right? But Jesus seems to be getting at the idea that this story is less about the physical healing and more about the concept of faith—about taking heart and having hope in a Savior outside of our circumstances.

To be clear, Jesus wants to heal us, reverse cancer, and more. On earth as it is in heaven! He can and has healed so many people. Even during shows I’ve played. But—not to ignore our physical pain or the way it agonizes him—he’s after so much more. Jesus is after the healing of our hearts. Jesus doesn’t save us from our circumstances; he saves us into sonship and daughtership, that we might live right alongside him.

What this looks like completely depends on you and your unique calling on this earth. What if Jesus’ main purpose was to heal this man from his sins, not save him from his circumstances? As Jesus said, the physical healing was just a supernatural sign of the Son of Man’s ability to forgive those sins. But in this case, a physical healing was part of this man’s calling on earth—a unique calling (and timing) which may or may not look like yours or mine.

If you haven’t received a physical healing for something you’ve been praying for, it doesn’t mean your faith isn’t strong enough. It could be that the Lord is mysteriously working in ways that will make your faith far more beautiful than you ever thought it could be. (Remember that imagined moment in the clip you just watched—where he told the woman her faith was beautiful?)

My takeaway from the story is the phrase “take heart.” I love these two words, as they’re an almost glossed-over—but incredibly important—part of a simple and profound passage. I think they get at the crux of the account. Jesus is first and foremost after our hearts. He’s weaving a beautiful story with our lives—a story that’s not pinned down by time and circumstances, as he’s outside of both.

After all, we may look at the outside, but the Lord is after what’s on the inside.

About The Author
Brandon Lake is a GRAMMY® Award-winning artist and songwriter from Charleston, SC. As a worship leader for gatherings around the nation, his purpose is to call followers of Jesus into a posture of freedom and confidence—creating space to declare truth. Find more from Brandon Lake atbrandonlake.co.