Friends Who Lift You to Jesus

 

This week reminded me that life was never meant to be lived alone and that sometimes, the people God places in our path are the ones who carry us closer to Him, even when they don’t realize it.

On Tuesday, I went to El Cuerpo, the clinic where we volunteer to provide free medical care to the Hispanic community. Before we begin, we always gather in prayer. That morning, the encouragement came from Mark 2:1–12  the story of the paralyzed man whose friends lowered him through the roof to reach Jesus.

They didn’t let the crowd stop them.
They believed.
They acted.
And Jesus, seeing their faith, forgave and healed their friend.

That story stayed in my heart all week.

The next day, Wednesday, was my first day of clinicals. I came home so excited, ready to tell my parents all about it the experience, the patients, the joy I felt. But when I got home, they were too busy, too caught up in their own problems to ask. For a moment, I felt invisible.

Later, I went to see my friends we talked, crocheted, and laughed together. There’s something sacred about those simple moments of connection. Then, I stopped by a friend’s house. He isn’t a Christian, but he’s been struggling with work and life. As we talked, he said something that struck me deeply:

“My friends lift me up to do better.”

And right there, I thought of Mark 2 again of the friends who literally lifted their friend closer to Jesus. Sometimes, faith looks exactly like that: carrying someone when they can’t carry themselves.

The next day, Thursday, I went back to work at the clinic. To my surprise, almost every patient already knew it had been my first day of clinicals. They asked how it went, congratulated me, and one of them — a sweet 92-year-old man — said,

“When you become a doctor, I’ll be your faithful patient.”

He said it jokingly, but his words touched me more than he could imagine.
Because even though I’ve made peace with not needing my family’s validation, God has surrounded me with people who fill that space with genuine love — my coworkers who encourage me, my patients who speak life into me, and my friends who remind me that joy still exists in the middle of busy, imperfect days.

This week, I understood something new about faith:
that it isn’t always about walking alone with strength,
but about being carried by others when you can’t.

The friends in Mark 2 didn’t just help someone walk again
they helped him be seen, forgiven, and loved.

That’s what we’re called to do for each other.
To lift, to listen, to love.
To carry one another closer to the heart of Jesus.

God is great.
And life, truly, was never meant to be lived alone.