I was reading through Acts 3 the other morning, and something struck me in a way that I've never noticed before. In the beginning of that chapter, Peter and John are going to the temple for a prayer meeting, and at the temple gate, there's a crippled beggar who, as beggars will, asks them for money. Rather than giving money, in verses 6 and 7, Peter tells the guy, "In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” Then, Peter reaches out a hand to him, and as he helps him up, the man is healed. Now that's cool, and since we've been talking lately about faith in action being the way God works, I thought it was a great confirmation of that... but that's not what struck me.
What struck me was the end of verse 12, where Peter says, "why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness?" This floored me, even though I'm sure I've read it before, and I think if someone asked me, "Do you have to be perfect for God to use you?" I'd have said, "No, of course not. It's not about me; it's about Jesus." But that day, it really struck me.
Several years ago, when we were living in Athens, I was in church, and there was a man up front in a wheelchair. I had the overwhelming sense that God wanted to heal this man, and that I should go to him and pray with him. I was nervous, as I'd never had anything like that kind of feeling before, but I decided to just embarrass myself if it came to that and go offer to pray with him. We prayed together for a long time, and it seems like I may have even had the idea to offer to help him up, but I know I didn't act on that, or if I did, I didn't make it clear enough that I was trying to do that. The man didn't get up, and after a while, we stopped praying and went back to our seats. In short, we gave up. I have occasionally wondered since then if I just didn't have the spiritual gift of healing, or if I had some hidden, unconfessed sin in my life at the time that prevented God from healing this man through me. After I read Acts 3, it struck me that;
a) God does the work of healing; I'm not healing, I'm praying, I'm lifting, I'm just the assistant,
b) perhaps, the spiritual gift of healing isn't a power that I can feel in my life; maybe it is simply the confidence that God will do the healing if I obey what he's telling me, and
c) also, maybe I don't have to be perfect, I just have to obey God. If he hasn't already revealed and convicted me of "hidden" sin, he's probably not going to let that get in the way of someone being healed. My feeling is that he'd teach me that lesson another time.
The main point that I got out of this passage was that it's Jesus doing the work; it's not just that something cool happens, it's that Jesus is at work. That just completely rocked my world, and I hope it means something to anyone else who reads this. Still, if it's just for me, that's pretty cool too.
What struck me was the end of verse 12, where Peter says, "why stare at us as though we had made this man walk by our own power or godliness?" This floored me, even though I'm sure I've read it before, and I think if someone asked me, "Do you have to be perfect for God to use you?" I'd have said, "No, of course not. It's not about me; it's about Jesus." But that day, it really struck me.
Several years ago, when we were living in Athens, I was in church, and there was a man up front in a wheelchair. I had the overwhelming sense that God wanted to heal this man, and that I should go to him and pray with him. I was nervous, as I'd never had anything like that kind of feeling before, but I decided to just embarrass myself if it came to that and go offer to pray with him. We prayed together for a long time, and it seems like I may have even had the idea to offer to help him up, but I know I didn't act on that, or if I did, I didn't make it clear enough that I was trying to do that. The man didn't get up, and after a while, we stopped praying and went back to our seats. In short, we gave up. I have occasionally wondered since then if I just didn't have the spiritual gift of healing, or if I had some hidden, unconfessed sin in my life at the time that prevented God from healing this man through me. After I read Acts 3, it struck me that;
a) God does the work of healing; I'm not healing, I'm praying, I'm lifting, I'm just the assistant,
b) perhaps, the spiritual gift of healing isn't a power that I can feel in my life; maybe it is simply the confidence that God will do the healing if I obey what he's telling me, and
c) also, maybe I don't have to be perfect, I just have to obey God. If he hasn't already revealed and convicted me of "hidden" sin, he's probably not going to let that get in the way of someone being healed. My feeling is that he'd teach me that lesson another time.
The main point that I got out of this passage was that it's Jesus doing the work; it's not just that something cool happens, it's that Jesus is at work. That just completely rocked my world, and I hope it means something to anyone else who reads this. Still, if it's just for me, that's pretty cool too.
1 comment:
Cool.
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