January 20: Want a miracle?

In Lystra sat a man who could not use his feet, lame from birth, who had never walked. This man was listening to Paul as he was speaking. When Paul stared intently at him and saw he had faith to be healed, he said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And the man leaped up and began walking. So when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” They began to call Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. The priest of the temple of Zeus, located just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the city gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices to them. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, “Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them.  (Acts 14:8-15 — NET)

It doesn't have to take long for you to develop the faith to be healed or to receive a miracle from God. Here is a man who had never walked, but listened to Paul preach about Jesus, and began to have faith. When Paul looked at him he could see his faith, and when he gave the command, the man leapt up and began to walk.

This passage clearly places the responsibility for our healing on our own heads. There were other people there who had heard the same things that this man heard, some of them needed healing, and some of them had less barriers to cross to believe in their healing. This man had never walked, and so it was harder for him to believe in something he had never been able to do. Even a small child around the age of one requires 2 weeks to a month to learn to walk. But not this man. He had the faith to obey Paul’s loud command and began to walk immediately… something that physical therapists would say is impossible. But of all the people around Paul and Barnabas, this man responded with faith and received the reward. If this healing were up to Paul and Barnabas alone, many more people would have been healed.

An important lesson from this passage is that we should not worship people or objects. God is the only one worthy of worship.