Dear Precious Friend,

The Bible says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 NKJV). Jesus wants to give us a full and abundant life, but our adversary, the devil, wants to steal as much from us as he can — and he will use many different obstacles to discourage us and stop us from receiving that life and the blessings God has provided for us.

Today I want to talk to you about a very powerful story of breaking through the obstacles to receive what we need from Jesus.

In Mark 2:1-12, we find an important example of people breaking through obstacles to receive what they so desperately needed from Jesus.

In this passage, we find that the word got out that Jesus was in a house in Capernaum, so a large number of people had gathered in and around the house to hear Him speak. The crowd was so large that “there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door” (see Mark 2:2). The hungry crowd was straining to hear Jesus’ preaching.

In verse 3, it says that four men approached the house carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. The men were intent on getting their friend to Jesus. As they got close to the house, they were met by an obstacle — the multitude of people prevented them from getting anywhere near the Lord. They had arrived believing they would get their paralyzed friend to Jesus, but they couldn’t even get near the door! What would they do? Would they give up and go back home?

Friend, what will you do when you hit an obstacle? Will you give up and say, “It’s not worth it. It’s too hard”? Will you think, I have tried this many times before and it never works. There are too many obstacles that are trying to stop me. I can’t do this!

The reaction of these four friends was quite different. They did something completely amazing and very much out of the ordinary. In essence, they said, “If we can’t get in through the door, we’ll go through the roof.”

They may have thought, What? We can’t do this! This is not our house. What will the owner of the house do to us? Who will pay for the damages? What if we drop our friend? There were so many challenges — but it did not stop them.

They climbed up on top of the house, and verse 4 says that they “…uncovered the roof where He was….” But that was only the first obstacle to getting their desired result.

Verse 4 continues, “…So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.” Can you imagine what this looked like? Everyone was listening to Jesus when, suddenly, they heard the roof breaking apart and saw particles from the roof falling on Him. All eyes would have been staring up through the hole in the roof right at those four men and their friend.

Then the man was lowered on a bed right in front of Jesus. All the people saw was this paralyzed man on a bed. Jesus saw all this, but He saw something else too — He saw the faith of these four men. Can you imagine how seeing the friends’ determination — getting through the crowd, breaking through the roof, then lowering their friend down to Jesus — must have grabbed Jesus’ heart?

We don’t know, but Jesus could have been thinking, These men believe so strongly that I can heal their friend that they risked everything to get him to Me. Jesus then says something amazing: “Son, your sins are forgiven you” (Mark 2:5).

Now, if we had been there that day, we may have thought to ourselves, This isn’t a sin problem. This is a paralyzed man and a broken-roof problem. So why is Jesus talking about sin? But Jesus saw the condition of the paralyzed man’s heart. And Jesus saw the faith of the four men.

Sickness does not separate us from God, but sin does. Everyone saw this man’s physical condition, but Jesus saw the condition of his heart. Jesus has the same power to heal someone as he does to forgive someone. The same blood it took to forgive you and me also heals us.

We see in Isaiah 53 that the suffering Savior did not just take our sins, but that same sacrifice and horrible death brought healing to our bodies as well. And we see it again in Psalm 103:3: “Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases.” Jesus came for the whole man. He is so kind.

We don’t know why Jesus said, “Your sins are forgiven you,” but with sin usually comes guilt, condemnation, and sometimes shame. He didn’t want that man just to be healed in his body, He also wanted him to be healed in his soul. Jesus came to bring salvation to the whole man: spirit, soul, and body. And He is the same today.

So what obstacle is trying to stop you from receiving from Jesus? It may take extra time and prayer and refusing to stop, but what you so desperately need could be just on the other side of the roof! The enemy wants to stop you from breaking through and receiving the abundance that Jesus wants to give. But it is the enemy that has to move out of the way — not you.

My friend, don’t let anything stop you from believing and growing in your faith and receiving for yourself and your family. According to the riches of His glory, He has provided for your every need (see Philippians 4:19). Those provisions are there for you to receive them.

Thank you for spending this time with me. And I want to encourage you to contact us if you would like someone to stand in faith with you. Call us at 1-800-742-5593 or email us at prayer@renner.org. We look forward to being your “friends on the roof” — joining our faith with yours to help you break through the obstacles so you can get what you need from Jesus.

Your sister in Christ,

Denise Renner