April 23, 2012

Acts 3:12 “Oh, Israelites, why does this take you by such complete surprise, and why stare at us as if our power or piety made him walk?

Chapter 3 of Acts recounts the healing of a man at the temple who had been brought there each day for many years to beg for money. He was healed through the actions of Peter but, as the verse above points out, not through Peter’s “power or piety.” We often take health for granted, physical or emotional, until we are hurting. Then we expect to take control of the situation and remove the pain by taking a pill or having a procedure. These things certainly help but unless our body’s immune system functions properly, aided by the medicine, we won’t be healed. Healing, physically and spiritually, comes not primarily from our actions but through the power of God placed in our natural bodies or given as a gift in ways we can’t explain. Sometimes we frantically go about trying to create our own healing when what we need to do is rest and let God, naturally or supernaturally, heal us from within. Are there places in your life where you are relying on your own “power or piety” when you should trusting God? Will you allow a shift of focus this week?

Don