As I was reading Acts 3:1-10 today verses 6-8 were highlighted. They say:
Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” 7And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. 8So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.
What I noticed here is the order of events in this passage.
This man was lame from his mother’s womb. He was born lame. He never walked a day in his life. Yet when Peter stepped into the scene things changed. Peter told the man to rise up and walk in the name of Jesus. This man had never walked before. Yet, Peter commands him to do something that he was designed to do but was never able to. Then Peter took him and lifted him up and immediately the man received strength in his feet and ankle bones. So the man leaped up, stood and walked. For the first time in his life, the man was able to leap, stand, walk and praise God.
Even though the man was born lame that didn’t mean that the Lord designed him to be lame. Even though he came out of his mother’s womb lame that didn’t mean that this was the will of God. Otherwise, he would have stayed lame. God is a God who heals. A God that takes the broken pieces and puts them back together. A God that has a good plan for all of His children. Sickness is never good. God is good and every good and perfect thing is from the Lord. Meaning that every bad and imperfect thing is not. So when the word says: by His stripes you are healed, you have to have faith in those words and take action.
The healing miracle of the lame man took place when the man was lifted up to stand and he leaped. As he was lifted up he received strength. So the strength in his feet and ankle came when Peter lifted him up. There was therefore an action attached to the miracle. Sometimes we want to have the strength first and then do the required action but that is not the order of God. The strength comes with and for the action.
In a different story, we read about Jesus feeding the multitudes. When Jesus blessed the bread and gave it to the disciples for distribution, physically nothing changed they still had the same amount of loaves and fish they gave to Jesus. But when they distributed the food a miracle took place the food was multiplied as they distributed it. As the disciples stepped out in faith distributing food to one person after the next multiplication took place.
Sometimes we want to see multiplication first and then act on it but this is not the order of God. It takes faith to step out and do what God tells you to do when the natural and physical circumstances don’t align. The Bible says in 2. Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Faith in what the Lord has spoken and faith in His word. In the same way, the disciples could have waited to physically see the multiplication first before distributing the food but then they would have never seen the miracle come to pass. The miracle required faith and action. James 2:17 says:
Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
When Jesus turned water into wine the miracle happened when the servants drew some water and took it to the master of the feast. The servants knew that the pots were filled with water, they filled them up themselves with water. But as they served it to the master it was turned into wine. The miracle once again happened when they took action. In that same account in John 2:5 we find the key to seeing miracles happen. In there Mary, the mother of Jesus says: “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
This is it.
When Jesus said to Peter: “come” and step out of the boat and walk on water he did. Peter had to take a first step on the water and come, to be able to walk on it. Jesus didn’t say walk on water but He said come. Jesus was on the water so the only way was to also walk on water. The impossible is possible with God. You can do everything He asks you to do when you believe. When you don’t focus on the impossibilities of things but on Him and do what He says.
We are not responsible for the miracle but for obedience. Peter could have waited there forever for something to happen before “feeling” like he could do it. When the Lord speaks you need to follow and do what He says. He will take care of the rest. If that means enabling you to walk on water or multiplying food then that will happen but you stay faithful and do what He says. The pressure for a miracle is not on you but on Him.
Going back to the story of the lame man. When Peter said rise up and walk Peter lifted him. Here the man had to also do his part and believe and take action. Peter could have lifted him and he could have fallen right back to the ground even though he received the strength. The man however jumped up (leaped) stood and walked. He did what Peter told him to do in the name of Jesus.
The man didn’t know what it felt like to walk. He never walked a day in his life. Yet, when Peter lifted him and strength came into his ankles and feet he followed the command and walked. He could have also said: “I don’t know how to walk.” “I don’t know how to do this” but no, he did what he was told to do and for the first time in his life he walked, just like that. God doesn’t need weeks to perform a miracle. In the whole Bible, we read about miracles taking place in minutes or even seconds.
We do not serve a God that changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The same God that healed the leper can heal you. The same God that multiplied the food can bring multiplication for you. It is the same God that spoke the heavens and earth, land and sea, sun and moon into existence that can change your situation by His word. What He did for the lame man He can do for you but only believe and do what He tells you to do.
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