"33 There he met a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. 34 Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up, and roll up your sleeping mat!” And he was healed instantly."
What power, what CONFIDENCE Peter showed here. I firmly believe that we all have this power; to heal and to do miracles in Jesus' name; but I feel few of us posses the faith to do it. That is what my blogging has been about this year, faith and patience. What I haven't figured out is how to achieve that faith, the undeniable belief that I really can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me.
Peter had the distinct advantage of walking the Earth with the Saviour and learning from Him; but it took the death of Jesus and Resurrection of Him to set Peter to his true potential. I have an advantage over Peter as well, what is my advantage? I knew, from the beginning, about Jesus' death and wonderful Resurrection! How is it that Peter has this awesome faith and I'm stuck writing a blog about patience and faith instead? I think part of that answer isn't so good; I think it may have something to do with how easy my relationship with God is. I'm not threaten by death on a daily basis just because I believe He died for my sins and rose again on the third day. I'm not hunted because I write about my faith (or lack there of) when I "get the chance". I can freely walk the globe with any "religious" symbol or shirt or sign that I want and no one can do anything about it. That seems pretty easy to me. Maybe if this freedom had been taken away from me at some point, or if I had escaped death that was to be my fate; purely because of my faith; then I'd understand where Peter got his faith and conviction.
I think it's safe to say that Peter's time with the Lord may have given him an edge; but I KNOW, in my heart of hearts, that this "edge" is mine for the taking as well. I just need to find the courage to reach out and grab it. Why is that so scary? Why do I feel as if, in doing that, I am falling through space? I guess that is a sign that I still need to work on my faith huh? Maybe it means that I don't yet have even a mustard's seed amount of faith.
I've been pretty busy at work, and I've found myself somewhat skimming through my daily Bible readings; mostly hoping something will pop out at me that I can use in a blog. I'm pretty sure that isn't how God intended my study time to go. I was even doing this today, struggling with my sense of justice and how I sometimes don't understand God's way...even when I can see the whole story; when I ran across this verse. It sort of hit me in the "faith gut" if you will. It screamed to me, HEY PETER WAS JUST A PERSON TOO; if He can heal in the name of Jesus; WHY CAN'T YOU? Instantly I was transported right back to January 1st, when I discovered just how much of this whole faith thing I don't understand. I really want to be healed of several things, but you know what else I want; and want even more? I want to have faith in my Lord and Savior; the One who gave up His life so that I could live.
I am beginning to see how God is using this journey in my life, not only teaching me patience to wait on His will; but teaching me that I still have a lot to learn. I am reminded every day, just how much I have to learn. I see 100's of examples in my Bible where I'm not the only one who had to learn this lesson, or didn't learn it well enough even. David, a man after God's own heart, gave into sin. His son, Solomon let his many foreign wives lead him into worshiping other gods. So I have faith that I'm not alone on this journey that I'm taking. I see examples of the past and hear comments that let me know that in the present I'm not alone either. I pray we all can continue to walk on, and learn from mistakes we see in the Bible and even those that we make on our own.
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