The Bible tells us about a man who from his mother’s womb had been lame. The word lame here can also mean “halt” in its original language. In other words, this man’s entire life had come to a halt—to a standstill— because of his condition.
However, it’s interesting that from birth, life is all about motion. At first, the baby learns to roll over, then sit up, then crawl, and finally stand up to take their first step. From that point on nothing is ever the same. Unstable steps at first lead to a child running at top speed wherever they can find space. Whatever the child is doing, they’re always moving!
Movement is a sign of life but strip away the ability to move and you have stripped away all ability to live life to its full!
It’s interesting then that the first recorded miracle in the book of Acts is the healing of this lame man.
And the backdrop to where the healing takes place is important. The Bible tells us it takes place at the temple gate called “Beautiful”.
The temple itself was a magnificent structure. Herod I (“Herod the Great”) had started work on rebuilding it in 19BC and work was only completed in 63 AD. So, at the time of this story, the temple was still a construction site. We are told 10,000 labourers worked at the temple site and 1000 specially trained Levites supported the work taking place.1
If a time-lapse camera recorded the day’s activities you would see people whizzing in, around and out of the temple continuously. It would be a hub of constant activity from labourers climbing to erect scaffolding, to priests performing their sacred duties, to common people entering inside to pray. And yet, in the midst of all that high-speed commotion, the only object that remains static and unmoving is this lame man. He’s in a time warp and easily visible for all to see because he stands out.
We all have moments when life can suddenly come to a screeching halt. We can be in a situation where we feel stuck, helpless and don’t know where to turn for answers to get us out of our predicament.
As a family, we have been there many times. But the greatest battle we ever fought was for our son. From birth, Nahum faced an uphill battle with life in reaching his milestones. There was a time we wondered if he would ever be able to stand and walk. Our maternal health nurse told us there could be complications. We felt like we were being sucked into a time warp and didn’t know the way out. My wife made a tearful plea in church requesting prayer for him while affirming her belief God could help him if He wanted to.
I can imagine the same concerns and fears haunted the thoughts of the lame man’s parents when their child was first born and tightly held in their arms. What should have been a joyous occasion turned into a quiet dread of an unknown future for their son. Their situation was hopeless. But now, all that was about to change forever. The lame man’s destiny was not etched in stone.
The Bible tells us that when Peter and John saw the lame man their eyes were fixed on him and they called out, “Look at us.” The lame man looked back, hoping these men would take pity and drop him some loose change. Instead, Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6).
What happens next is amazing! As soon as the man rises up, his feet receive new strength. He begins to leap for joy into the air, singing and praising God! What an incredible and electric transformation as God brings life, energy and movement to what was previously dead and immoveable!
As we considered the steep climb up an unknown mountain to help our son, this story in Acts was a reminder to us that all along we can be asking God for His loose change to help our son survive in this world when instead we could be begging God for him to reach the full potential God had designed him for.
In John 15:7, Jesus says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”
God had promised us when our son was born his life would bring comfort to others. Nahum, in Hebrew, means “comfort”. As parents, our greatest desire for Nahum was never to have great talents or earn riches—we told God that after waiting so long, the child He’d given to us we were now giving back to Him for His service to lead others to Jesus.
A referral from our paediatrician one day led us to visit a child physiotherapist who immediately began to help us. While we faithfully put into practice all we were being taught, we knew only God could place that desire in our son to stand up and walk. Soon we saw a miracle unfold before our eyes.
At 18 months of age, I remember how one day our son made an attempt to stand and then fall down. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing and burst out in applause, praise to God and words of encouragement for him. Over the next few days, Nahum tried again and again. It didn’t take long before our son took his first few steps, and then started to walk, and finally run. This was confirmation for us that our God is a miracle-working God and His plans for our son’s life would be fulfilled. While new challenges await us, we trust God entirely and refuse to let go of the promises He has given us!
The Bible tells us that when the lame man was healed, all the people in the temple ran to Peter and John greatly amazed! And when Peter saw this, he asked, “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus . . . And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know” (Acts 3:12-13, 16).
Did you catch that? It was faith—the power and audacity to believe—that made this man strong. “Strong” in its original language can also mean being made stable, steadfast, sure! Peter and John, when they passed by that day, didn’t just toss this man some loose change—a few coins to help him out for the day. They had far greater faith. They saw this man’s life was at a standstill but with faith he could be mobilised to become a living testimony of God’s power and glory.
Whoever saw this man from now on would no longer see him as the lowly beggar sitting at the gate called Beautiful. They would see him as the man whose whole life had been made beautiful by a great God!
In John 16:24, Jesus says, “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”
God is longing to do something grand for us if only we will believe! Have we been settling for loose change when God wants to give us all the treasures of heaven’s storehouses—if only we ask? God’s desire is for His children to be filled and overflowing with joy. The question is, do we believe God has the power to release us from our time warp?
1. Roennfeldt, Peter, Following the Spirit. Signs Publishing, Warburton, Victoria, 2018, p. 40.
Vikram Panchal a pastor in Melbourne who enjoys running the “Lead Your Life” podcast empowering listeners to live their life to its full potential for God.
