How Awesome is Our God?

I was reading through Acts 14 today and came upon this familiar passage:

Acts 14:8–10

⁸At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked.

⁹This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had faith to be made well,

¹⁰said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk.

One of the beautiful things about the Bible is that it is a "living" book, meaning that it is always teaching, always growing and always nourishing us, even the parts we are deeply familiar with. I am constantly amazed that, at any time, you can pick up a Bible, read something you've been reading for years...and see something you've never seen before! Here's some of what struck me about this short passage:

• This man had never walked before, in his life.
  

This was just about regaining his legs, the atrophied muscles that remained knew nothing about standing up or even balancing much less leaping and walking.

• Paul could see his faith

The lame man had faith...he had trust in God. He was not feeling sorry for himself. He had not given up. He had a hope and a love for God and what He could do. He wore this on his sleeve in a manner that was apparent and visible. Some folks wear their pain that way. This man wore his faith that way.

• He was obedient in his faith

He didn't hesitate. He didn't flinch. He leaped up! He had total confidence that God would heal him. He stepped out in faith, believing God had done what He said He would do.

These are great lessons but there's even more here. We also see a great example of what a authentic Apostolic miracle looks like, authored by our Father in heaven and performed through a true Apostle:

• It is totally supernatural
• It is instantly verifiable
• It was complete, lacking in nothing, and miraculously enabling
• It led to the opportunity to present to Gospel to people who might not have otherwise listened to it.
  

God still heals today and He does it through any medium, individual or process He chooses. Yet, some of what I've seen that presents itself as "healing" does not measure up to the criteria shown above. In spite of modern day "faith healers" who only heal some but not all and some modern day "Apostles" who demonstrate none of the marks of the true Apostles, God still moves in the miraculous and supernatural.

So..how do you know when you've encountered are the real thing?

Here's a good way...Whenever a supernatural event occurs, ask yourself this question, "Who gets the glory? God or an individual?" Does the glory truly go to God or are we led to believe that somehow, it has to be through this individual? If you continue reading in Acts 14:11-14, you'll see that Barnabas and Paul actually grieved when the crowd tried to elevate them. As soon as they had the opening, they presented the Gospel (Acts 14:15-18). Once they were done, instead of achieving celebrity status, they were stoned and driven out of town!

Miracles are always an opportunity for His children to give Him glory and share His Good News. The goal and purpose of healing, just like any other miracle He performs, is to point our attention to Him and acknowledge to a lost world what an awesome God He is.