Fan the Flame - a Journey Through Actsഉദാഹരണം

Day 5 - Peter Heals a Beggar

Dorothy was in her 60s when she visited our church that day. She was there because she had a heart condition that meant she couldn’t drive. When her friend couldn’t drive her to her usual church, she decided that wouldn’t stop her and she walked to the closest church.

After church, she asked me for prayer. She explained that week she was going to have major heart surgery after years of issues. Dorothy asked if we could pray for peace and surgery with no complications. I remember wondering, “What if God just fixed her heart?” So I asked Dorothy if she was ok with a prayer for healing and she said yes. So we prayed, very simply, “God bring your peace, and if you want to do a miracle, a new heart would be great.”

On Tuesday, the church office phone rang. It was Dorothy, and she was hysterical. In between her sobbing, she kept saying, “Why me, why me?”. As the tears slowed, Dorothy shared how she had gone in for a pre-op scan before surgery, and to everyone’s surprise, she had a new heart. No surgery was needed.

About a month later, Dorothy came to visit again. This time she drove herself. Her new heart meant she had her license back. As she walked into church full of joy, she carried a handful of paperwork, 17 years' worth of heart scans revealing issues. On top was one single page, the most recent report, which stated very simply that Dorothy’s heart was in perfect condition.

Several things jump out at me in our passage today, like how this miracle happened in the normal routine. This was a completely different setting from the crowd we read about at Pentecost (Acts 2). It wasn’t an evangelistic crusade either. This miracle happened right where Peter and John had likely walked many times before. The main character was a man they had probably seen many times before. Maybe other times, they were able to give the man silver or gold. But not this time. This time, God was waiting to display his love and power right where they had walked before.

I also notice that this man asked for silver, not healing. The immediate need that had his focus was daily provision even though he was carried in everyday to sit with his crippled legs. There are people around us every day who are living just like the lame beggar. They have needs in their life that are also an opportunity for them to encounter and experience God’s love. I wonder how often God is waiting to work miracles in our mundane lives. What if we are walking past what is so familiar and miss the opportunity for heaven to touch earth? How do you feel when you consider that God wants to use you to reveal his love?

Let’s pray we can see the opportunities God puts in front of us. Sometimes it may be to give generously, sometimes it may be a miracle. The outcome? Healing, praising God, lives changed, and people being filled with wonder and amazement, just to name a few.

Written by Dan Perkins