When we get stuck
Maybe a blip on your screen turns into a full-minute hiccup with a download. Maybe your handheld device freezes during a meeting.
Sometimes the slowdown causes a single sigh, and then off you go.
Sometimes the stall isn’t related to technology at all. Maybe there’s a sorrow or immobility that lasts a week, an entire season, or even longer.
The truth is you’re stuck.
Apostles Peter and John meet someone like this. Scripture never gives him a name but does share that this broken individual is literally dropped down to the ground by others at a place called the Beautiful Gate.
The irony is this scene—and particularly this soul—are anything but beautiful. Instead, what we read and what we feel is painful because this man is described as a beggar. He is also crippled.
He isn’t defined by what he does have. He is defined by what he doesn’t have.
The scripture in Acts 3 indicates his legs do not work. This is why others drop him off at the busy city gate. The only way he can sustain himself is by asking for generosity from those who pass.
The text doesn’t share this, but I believe his spirit is also immobile. He is downtrodden.
Certainly, he sees Peter and John approach. He is people watching, after all. He may recognize these two are connected to Jesus Christ, a known healer, but when they engage him, he doesn’t ask that his legs miraculously move again. He doesn’t speak up in the hope that he himself can get up from the ground. He simply asks for money.
He asks for change, not a change.
And this is sad.
The sadness is systemic because like this one who is down on at least two levels, we, too, can know of the healing power of Jesus and simply ask for a quick fix. We can ask for a way to get through the day when Jesus offers so much more.
Peter shares he has neither silver nor gold for this man. However, he will give the one who is down what he does have, which is a Spirit within that does move him. He declares, “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk (verse 6b, NLT)!”
Instantly the man’s feet and ankles are healed and strengthened. He jumps up, stands on his feet, and begins to walk.
These are very specific details in a very specific text.
Your details are equally specific. So is the commonality. There are times you are down. There are times you cannot move.
You know what happens when you are immobile. You cannot get past a troublesome thought or situation. You are legitimately burdened by what is happening to you. The weight of the world is on you. You can barely move. To even think of getting up is a near impossibility.
Sooner or later, however, this story becomes your story. Neither Peter nor John will literally approach you, but someone does come along. This someone may not be exactly like one of these apostles, but these light shiners get you up and moving.
The healing power for the beggar is the same healing power available to you. The healing may not be physical. You may not literally jump up, for example. However, Jesus’ healing power does equip you with mobility.
Once mobile, the first place the beggar went was a house of worship. Today, the best place to meet light shiners is in a house of worship. Houses of worship are more than beautiful gates. They are beautiful places open for healing from hurts too deep in your past that should be just that—past.
Houses of worship channel the positive, healing nature of our Savior through those around you. Find or continue with this place of light so that you gain what you need when you’re stuck, and that’s mobility.
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