April 15, 2024

Augustine was one of the great early saints of the Christian faith. He was instrumental in helping to formulate some of the early doctrinal understandings that came to be the foundation of the church. He is also regarded as a saint by the Catholic Church.
But he wasn’t always a saint. He is a product of the faith of his mother, Monica. In his autobiographical prayer called “Confessions,” he talks about his wanderings, his confusion, and his dabbling in many different religions and philosophies. But he points to his mother and her ceaseless prayers that God honored to bring him into the fold. In that prayer he speaks to God of his mother this way, “You sent your hand from above, and raised my soul out of that depth of darkness because of my mother. Your faithful one wept to You for me more bitterly than mothers weep for the bodily deaths of their children.” Thank God for moms whose prayers have been the door of God for many of us in our journey!
God acts on our faith—even when that faith is being exercised on behalf of another. That’s the lesson from our passage today. It doesn’t say that the paralyzed man had faith. It says that his friends had faith. The paralyzed man may or may not have believed that Jesus could heal him. But his friends did. They believed it enough to make the journey. They believed it enough to carry him through the streets. They believed it enough to fight the crowds, climb up on a roof, and dig a hole to lower him down. They believed in Jesus enough to keep at it until they fully put their friend at Jesus’ feet.
Your faith matters. Your prayers matter. Your prayers for your unbelieving friends and family. Your faith for healing for those who may not believe it themselves. God honors YOU when you stand in the gap and fight on behalf of those who may not have the faith or strength to fight for themselves. Keep praying for those lost children. Keep believing for the miracle that someone you know needs. There may be an Augustine or a paralyzed friend who will one day point back to YOU as the source of what God has done in their lives. Your faith is their miracle! That’s God’s Word for you today.