In Ezekiel, Scripture describes one who has encountered God as someone who has come in from one direction but leaves toward a new direction. Mark 2 describes the healing of a paralyzed man whose friends lower him to Jesus as Jesus is teaching in a home. The friends believed that Jesus could change the direction of the paralyzed man’s life. The Bible recounts that the man came in the house through the roof, but he left through the door; the direction of his life was changed when he encountered Jesus. All have areas of life where we are unable to move or change ourselves like the paralyzed man. We are stuck in old habits, beliefs, views or patterns and cannot move on our own. We need to lay down our “stuck-ness” at the feet of Jesus. He will free us to go out a different way than we entered.
Mark 4-5 tells several stories of Jesus taking someone to a new place of freedom, peace, healing and forgiveness. Jesus calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee, He cast demons out of a man who was consumed with evil thoughts, He brought a young girl back to life and He healed a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. In each situation, Jesus knew the truth of the hurt and pain. He knew when and how to show up for each individual. Jesus’s power is never diminished; His forgiveness is never weakened; His promise of peace never lessens; His faithfulness never slips away.
