Acts 9: A Story of Coming to Know God

At the beginning of chapter 9, we come across Saul (later called Paul) who is on his way to Damascus after the martyrdom of Stephen. As he comes near to the city, where he was on his way to persecute more of the believers in Christ, he sees a light and hears a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" And Saul's response is to ask, "Who art thou, Lord?" (Acts 9:4-5)

Saul of Tarsus was one of the best known students of Gamaliel, a Jewish teacher. He likely spent much of his life studying the laws that God had given the Jews, and the recorded word of God that was sacred to the Jews. Despite all of his studies, he did not know God. He didn't know him personally, and so asked the question, "Who art thou, Lord?"

On the other hand, Ananias (the man that God tells to go to Saul and help him receive his sight) knew God, even though he might not have been a scholar of all the laws of the Jews. When God called to him, answered, "Behold, I am here Lord." (Acts 9:10) He did not have to ask, as Saul did, who the Lord was.

If I was in a similar situation as these two men, which one would I respond more like? How well do I really know God? I can really relate to Saul in this story in that I often focus on learning about God from a scholarly standpoint. I often think that if I continue reading the scriptures over and over, I will be able to draw closer to God. And this is probably true to some extent, because reading the scriptures helps us to know who God is and what He has done for us, but maybe this doesn't help me to know God on as personal a level as spending time speaking to Him through prayer. This story about Saul has helped me to realize that I should spend more of my time getting to know God personally rather than just on the scholarly level.   

Acts 3: A Story of Waiting on God's Timing

Acts 3
Today in my New Testament class, we discussed the story recorded in Acts chapter 3 about how Peter and John heal a man who has been unable to walk since he was born. He has been carried to the steps of the temple daily. (He was not allowed into the temple because people with disabilities in those days were thought to be sinners by many). In Acts 4:22, it says that the man was over forty years old...that's a lot of trips up to the steps of the temple and quite a few days spent near these steps.

In all of this time that he spent on these steps asking for alms, he probably saw a few things and some key religious leaders since he was, after all, at the temple. And one of the key figures that had been at this temple many times in the last few years was Jesus. There is a high possibility that this man who had not had the use of his limbs for many years had seen Jesus pass through the nearby gate at least a couple of times. And he would have likely also seen miracles that Christ performed throughout his ministry near the very steps that he was brought to every day.

If this was the case, if this man saw Christ come to the temple many times and witnessed the healing that he brought to others that were afflicted with different disabilities, how would this have made him feel when he was not healed? If I were him, I would have been extremely frustrated. I would ask, "Why do all the other people around me get divine help when I am left sitting here begging?"

Well, the truth is that, like this man, many of us have the same thing happen to us. Maybe it happens when we see that others have success in their lives and that everything seems to turn out perfectly for them. Maybe we feel this way when it seems like others have more faith than we feel we will ever be able to have. Or maybe it happens for any number of reasons. But the story goes on...

After Christ's resurrection and ascension back to heaven, the apostles are going about preaching the gospel. They come to the temple and see this man (maybe they've seen him before when they were with Christ?) and they ask him to look on them. They have no money to offer him, but Peter heals him in the name of Christ and he is able to walk again (which is a huge miracle, as he has no experience with walking whatsoever).

Although it might not have come at a moment that the man who was healed would have chosen, his miracle did happen eventually. In addition, the miracle of this man receiving the ability to not only walk but also to leap brought many people into the church and showed them that the gospel and the miracles that began with Christ's ministry had not left because he was no longer there. Had he received this blessing at the same time as the others that he likely saw healed, he would probably not have had such a great impact on others.

The moral of this story is to have faith in God's timing. Blessings and healing can come to us, but they might not always come exactly when we want them to. But, if we continue to have faith, we will eventually receive them.