The Man Who Had Never Walked

Scripture:

“Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, ‘Stand upright on your feet.’ And he sprang up and began walking.” – Acts 14:8–10 (ESV)

Think:

He had never taken a step.

There was no childhood memory of running through the streets, no season of strength he hoped to recover. His condition had been with him from birth. Every day, he sat while others moved around him. He had learned to live at ground level, dependent upon someone else to carry him wherever he needed to go.

Then he heard Paul speaking.

Luke does not tell us that Paul was preaching about physical healing. He was preaching the gospel—the story of Jesus, who entered our brokenness, died for our sin, and rose again. But as the man listened, faith began to rise in the very place where hope had been buried.

Paul looked intently at him. In a crowd of people, he saw the man everyone else had learned to overlook. Then he spoke an impossible command: “Stand upright on your feet.”

The man did not cautiously test his legs. He sprang up.

The feet that had never carried him suddenly held his weight. Muscles that had never worked received strength. In a moment, Jesus gave him an entirely new way to move through the world.

This miracle is a glimpse of what the gospel promises to do completely. Jesus did not come merely to make difficult lives more manageable. He came to reverse the curse of sin and restore everything broken by the fall. We may not experience every physical healing in this life, but every person who belongs to Jesus has been promised a day when sickness, weakness, pain, and death will finally lose their hold. The risen Christ is making all things new.

Perhaps there is an area of your life that has been broken for so long you no longer imagine it could be different. You have adjusted to sitting there. You have learned to call hopelessness acceptance.

Keep listening to Jesus.

His answer may not come in the way or timing you desire, but no broken place is beyond His sight or His power. The man had never walked, but “never” was not too difficult for Jesus. It was simply the place where His restoring grace would be seen.

Application:

Where have you stopped expecting Jesus to meet you because the struggle has lasted so long? Bring that place honestly before Him again, trusting that whether He changes your circumstances or sustains you within them, He has not overlooked you.

Prayer:

Jesus, You see the broken places I have carried for a long time. Awaken my faith, hold me when I am weary, and help me trust that You are still making all things new. Amen.