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.
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