Scripture Reference: Mark 2:1-12
Our Unspoken Needs – the Paralytic
There’s a sense in which each of us is like the paralytic. We have needs which we may never share with anyone else, but they are nonetheless real.
In the church where I attend and try to serve, we have a place in our order of worship where we ask for prayer requests, like many churches do, and then we pray together for those persons and their needs. I have never lead or joined in prayer in the gathered congregation without reminding myself that all of those attending, and even those missing a particular service, have needs and burdens, too. The truth is, we all have needs of our own, and while no one present may know of those needs unless spoken, they are real nonetheless.
In the story Mark relates, the paralytic represents each of us and our unspoken needs—needs which may be unknown to others, but at the same time, known and understood by Christ.
What do you feel you need right now more than anything else? Sometimes, I think we become a little mixed up about this. For example, there are times we feel what we need is to “fit in” with our peers at school or colleagues at work, when perhaps what we really need is to learn to enjoy our acceptance to Christ. When I was an assistant pastor at Calvary Chapel in Arizona, I counseled a couple once whose marriage was anything but ideal. They decided what their lives needed was to build a new house in a new neighborhood. I felt after hearing them, however, what they really needed was to rediscover the meaning of their love for one another and start construction on a home not a house.
There are times we’re tempted to feel that a more prestigious degree or larger place of service will give us the recognition we deserve when what we really need is the recognition of Christ and the rediscovery of purpose where we are.
The fashion craze of our culture and the crass materialism of our society often blinds us to our real needs. We try to bolster our image by changing our wardrobe. We seek happiness in the fruitless pursuit of things. I think it would help all of us recognize our deeper need to have our values changed by Christ and learn the secret of contentment borne out of a relationship to Christ. Mother Teresa rightly said that you will never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have. It takes far too long for many of us to learn that simple but profound truth, believe me, I have not been immune to that fact!
I do not know if the paralytic was aware of his unspoken need for forgiveness. The philanthropists who brought him to Jesus were obviously unaware of any need beyond that of physical healing. I do believe, however, that Jesus knows you and me better than we know ourselves, and He has not only the willingness but the power to meet our unspoken needs. Will you permit Him to meet yours? The secret of true worship lies in the acknowledgment of our individual needs. Out-of-the-ordinary things do happen in worship with this basic and fundamental acknowledgment.
To Be Continued
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 
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