Filled With Wonder And Amazement

FILLED WITH WONDER AND AMAZEMENT

a prayer to open

Holy Spirit, come. Center my heart.

Fill my mind. Guide my steps.

As [Peter and John] approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money.

Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us! . . . I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.

We see in this passage the first healing Jesus accomplished through his disciples after his ascension and the wonder and amazement that followed. Imagine being present to see a man walk who had been paralyzed since birth. Before Peter healed the lame man, something critical happened: Peter looked at the man and instructed the man to look at him. We don’t know exactly why Peter did this, but it is a powerful moment in which a man who was likely constantly overlooked was given permission to be seen just as he was. A kind of leveling seems to have happened between the men: one an apostle, one a beggar, but both equal in the eyes of Jesus.

• Read this passage again. What word or phrase stands out to you? Sit quietly, reminding yourself that you are in God’s loving presence, and ask him to show you how that word or phrase connects to your life.
• Reflect on your daily routine, from the moment you first leave your home to the moment you return. Who are the people you tend to overlook or fail to see? Why do you think that is?
• Who do you allow to really see you—your weaknesses, vulnerabilities, sin, and failures? What makes you feel safe with those people? Are you someone before whom your friends and family members allow themselves to be seen? What do you think makes you safe or unsafe? (Are you judgmental, critical, hope-filled, encouraging?)

Father, thank you for the restoration and healing that is available through Christ. May I always be open to your desire to restore and heal those parts of my heart, mind, and body that are broken. And give me eyes to see those I have overlooked in my busyness, brokenness, or apathy. Help me be a person in whose presence it is safe to be seen—free of judgment, condemnation, and criticism. Transform all that is in me that diminishes or dismisses the unique beauty and chosenness of others. Amen.