“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” – Psalm 34:17-18
In Mark 2, it says in verse 3, “Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them.”
So, these four men are carrying a paralyzed man on a mat, but what I want us to see is that serving this man didn’t begin with bringing him. It began by seeing him. Right? You won’t bring someone where they need to go until you truly see someone.
If we’re going to serve others well, it begins with us seeing people the same way God sees them. You see, these friends didn’t look at this paralyzed brother and just see his limitations or problems. They saw his potential! And they believed that Jesus could meet him at his point of need and heal him.
How often do we encounter people and completely lock in on their deficiencies, defects, and flaws? How many times do we write people off as hopeless and say things like, “They’re too lost…too bad…or too far gone…”?
We don’t serve a God that leaves us hanging in our hopelessness. Jesus loves bringing hope to the hopeless. Psalm 34-17:18 says, “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Don’t miss what this passage says: God sees us…He hears us…He rescues us…He is near to us…and He saves us.
And in a similar way, if we are going to serve God well, we need to see people like He sees people.
When you look at someone, what do you see? Do you see what God could make them into? How God could use them for His Kingdom? Or do you see injury? Sin? Addiction? Disabilities? Stubbornness?
If we want to be like Jesus and serve Him, it starts with serving others. The men in Mark 2 served their friend because they saw Him for who he really was. What do you see in those around you? How can you help them reach their potential for Christ?