“But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, ‘Get up, Tabitha.’ And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up! He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.” (Acts 9:40-41 NLT)
Sounds like something Jesus would do, right? And it is Jesus, He’s just using Peter as His hands and voice. May I ask you – isn’t the same Jesus living in you and me that lived in Peter? And if He is, why aren’t we seeing miracles as a matter of our everyday lives? The Bible says in Acts 19:11-12: “God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles. When handkerchiefs or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people, they were healed of their diseases, and evil spirits were expelled.”
We see miracle after miracle in the lives of the early believers, and even today, in other parts of the world, God is using ordinary people, who seem quite extraordinary to us, to perform miracles very much like He did throughout the Bible.
Aren’t you tired of being ordinary? I am, but what might “extraordinary” look like for me and you? It begins with giving God permission to do whatever He desires in and through us. That’s my prayer today and everyday for the rest of my life – “Father, do whatever you desire to do in, through, and on my behalf, enabling me to be, say, think, and do whatever you desire from me.”
I’m tired of professing what I’m not demonstrating in and through my life. I’m tired of asking the Lord to do for the people in my family and other spheres of influence what He is directing me to do for them. I’m sick of limp prayers that wouldn’t move a moth, let alone a mountain. I’m tired of looking at others whom I perceive as extraordinary, while viewing myself as a spiritual water boy.
Life is too short to set on the sidelines. And I realize that we all have limitations. I’m 75, I know about limitations, but I’ve concluded that if I don’t have something, I don’t need it to do what God’s calling me to do. God only asks us to do things with what He’s given us, so If I’m bedridden or crippled or physically handicapped, I obviously don’t need perfect health to obey God.
We must focus, not on what we’ve lost, but on what we have left. As Jesus followers we have everything we need to be everything He’s calling us to be – nothing more, nothing less. It doesn’t take someone in perfect physical, mental, emotional, financial, relational, _________ condition to lay down their life at the foot of Jesus’ cross and say: “Here am I, Lord, use me!”
The only perfect human being died in our place to liberate us to be all we can be to His honor and fame. Jesus is the subject – not religion, not being good enough, not knowing more, being more – just submitting to the Lord’s authority by bowing moment by moment to His lordship over us. We’re not our own, we’ve been bought with the priceless blood of our Savior. We can’t be Him, but we can be all He died to enable us to be for Him.
What will being extraordinary look like for you? Let the Lord walk the corridors of your heart and life and tell you what He wants to change, then get out of the way and let Him go to work. No one will force you to do anything against your will, but when you submit your will to Him, He will work in ways you never dared dream possible.
You and I may not be the next Peter, Paul, John or other person the Lord has used powerfully, but maybe we will be! God alone knows and He alone will equip and enable us to be the best “US” that we can possibly be. We just have to get out of the way and let Him work.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 