That Time God Asked Me To Be Carried

“Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus.  When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.”

Luke 5:18-19

 

A few years ago my husband took a bad fall at work.  He fell off of a roof while working alone, landing on his head and knocking him out cold!  When he came too, he had no idea where he was but he did manage to call me in his drunken stupor.  That was one of the scariest days of my life!

 

After racing to be by his side, with our two small children at my hip, we watched him be transported to the local hospital.  I drove as quick as I could and arrived at the E.R. just moments after my guy.  To my surprise, I was greeted by a handful of men from our church.  In all the frenzy of getting Tim help, our church was alerted to begin praying and all of the staff jumped in a car to meet us as we arrived.  Wow.

 

By the end of that day, we were all back home.  My man had a lump on his head the size of a baseball, but no permanent damage was found.  We contemplated that if he had fallen just a little to the right or left, he could have easily been stabbed by the tools in his belt, or something worse.

We were blessed.

 

My husband and I are servants.  We make dinners.  He uses his skills to bless widows.  Our home is always open to those needing some rest.  We especially enjoy taking care of things and people when no one is watching.  When no one is aware.  We are perfectly content to find out later how an anonymous blessing effected someone rather than tie our name to it.

That’s our wheelhouse.

But that day…

That day, God asked me to take help instead of give it.

Can I tell you, it was a little uncomfortable.

He asked me to stop worrying that I may be putting someone out so that they could help our family in our time of need.  He asked me to relax, to be thankful and to let the people in our lives take care of us for a day or two.

He asked me to let our friends and family carry our mat.

The details of that day were taken care of without an utterance of concern from my lips.

My husband’s truck was retrieved and deposited back into our driveway.  I still don’t know who did that.  My children were taken care of by someone else while we waited on test results.  I honestly can’t remember who had them.  Our dinner that night was taken care of before we ever arrived back home.

 

Looking back, it was as if we were literally being carried on all 4 corners.  We were given the freedom to focus on what was most important that day.  My husband’s well-being.

 

I’ll never forget how loved we felt.

 

Most women I know are mat carriers.  They jump in and do the work.  They bring the meals.  Watch the children.  Organize the help.  Prostrate in prayer.  Fill the gap.

 

Have you ever been asked to lay down?  Have you ever been put on a mat involuntarily?

You keep trying to get back up but the Lord has someone place their hand on your proverbial forehead and tell you to lie still?

 

Sometimes it’s necessary.

 

Not only for you and me to lie still, but there is a blessing in store for those carrying your mat.

 

We have to be careful not to steal that from others.

 

There is a time to serve and a time to be served.

 

Let’s try to do a better job at recognizing where the Lord would have us.  If He says to pick up someone else’s mat, let’s pick it up.  If He says to lie down, let’s lie down.

 

*Do you carry your friends when they need help?

*Have you ever struggled with being carried?

 

Praying for you,

Kellie

 

I’m participating in #livefreethursday today.  Link in side bar if you’d like to check it out!