Apparently at some point in Jesus ministry, he had a house. In Mark Chapter 2, Jesus is preaching “at home” and there were so many people there, you couldn’t get in.

The house is packed and you got these four guys carrying a paralytic man on a mat to Jesus, so that he can be healed.

Their faith is bringing them to Jesus.

But when they get there, their faith runs into an obstacle. The obstacle is that Jesus is preaching in a house and there’s no way in.

The house is full.

Now what would you do in this situation? When your faith takes you so far and then runs into an obstacle, what do you do when you hit that obstacle?

These guys tore Jesus’ roof off.

Do you have faith that tears the roof off of Jesus’ house?

That’s what they did.

They didn’t say, “I guess it’s not our time”. They didn’t say, “it must not be God’s will”. They didn’t say, “God must not want to do this”.

They believed so strongly that God wanted to heal this man, that they literally went up on the roof and tore it open. They probably had to dig through it and at some point it started interrupting the meeting. But they didn’t mind interrupting the meeting. They didn’t mind ripping a hole in Jesus’ roof. They believed that God wanted to heal this man and they were willing to do whatever it took to get to Jesus.

And what was Jesus’ reaction?

It says that he saw their faith, forgave the paralytic man’s sins, and healed him. Amazing.

Do you have faith that can be seen?

It doesn’t say that they said that they had faith. They didn’t have to. Their faith was visible. Their faith did something. Their faith was aggressive. Their faith tore the roof off of Jesus’ house. Their faith actually left a hole in Jesus’ roof.

After that meeting, there was a hole in Jesus’ roof because some guys had faith enough to believe that God wanted to heal a paralytic man, and they were willing to do whatever they had to do to activate their faith. Jesus saw their faith and responded with forgiveness of sin and healing.

What do you do when you hit that obstacle of faith?  What is your response? We all hit obstacles in our faith. We all hit doubts. We all do mental gymnastics sometimes, wondering if God really wants to do this.

It’s not just that they believed that God could heal. Or that he did heal. Their actions showed that they believed that God wanted to heal.

And how much of faith is really about that?

How much of our struggle is not so much about our belief in whether or not God has the power to heal but more in God’s desire to heal? How much of our struggle is believing that he loves faith and that faith ravishes his heart? How much of our struggle is believing that faith that tears the roof off of his house is not offensive to him but something that he rewards? (Heb 11:6)

What does your faith look like?

Do you have a faith that tears the roof off of Jesus’ house? 

Next time you pray, next time you’re faced with an obstacle, think of Mark Chapter 2. Think of these five guys and ask the question, “does my faith tear the roof off of Jesus’ house?”

I want my faith to be that which does not stop at the obstacle of a full house but says, “God, I’m going in through the roof if I have to.”