And we know that all
things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the
called according to His purpose.
Have you ever fallen
and felt like it was the end? You know,
the kind of fall where you are hiking and made it through the tougher terrain,
are just about at the end of the trail, and then you carelessly stumble. You
can see the ground coming up to your face and you are sure you will never rise
up again with out pain and breakage?
And in
Lystra a certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from
his mother’s womb, who had never walked. 9 This man heard
Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be
healed, 10 said with
a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” And he leaped and walked. 11 Now when the people saw what Paul had done,
they raised their voices, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods
have come down to us in the likeness of men!” ...
14 But when
the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in
among the multitude, crying out 15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these
things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you
should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven,
the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, 16 who in bygone generations allowed all nations
to walk in their own ways. 17 Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without
witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons,
filling our hearts with food and gladness.” 18 And with these sayings they could scarcely
restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.
19 Then Jews
from
21 And when
they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they
returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch , 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples,
exhorting them to
continue in the faith, and saying, “We must
through many tribulations enter the kingdom
of God
You rise up with the
help of a couple of younger people who run to your rescue. Realizing you are
not broken, but just feel that way, you hobble the rest of the way to the end
of the path and sit, waiting and assessing your pains and injuries. This kind
of stumbling can be like life when you were going along doing the right things,
in your ‘being good’ life and thinking ‘you got this thing’; but then you
tripped up on something as silly as shifting sand. Sometimes when we are
walking thinking we have it all taken care of we can trip up. The trip is not
the problem; it is what we do afterwards that counts. When you are injured by
another person, or even by a wrong choice you or someone made for you it is
easy to just lie there in the dirt and wonder ‘why me?’,
What about you?
Did you get back up?
Did you dust yourself off and think you were fine? Sometimes we think we are
okay but days, weeks or even years down the road something comes to light of
that injury. Most of us don’t even realize that there was a little leaven in
our loaf. We just bandage our wounds and get back up trying to be strong. After
all Paul did this when he was stoned outside the city and left for dead. He got
up and went back into the city to preach and to teach the Gospel message to the
lost. You can bet he had pain while he worked but he still did it. He probably
had anger toward the people who ordered him to be stoned, more than those who
stoned him by order. He loved them anyway; he got up and went back into the
city. He did not let the near death stop him.
Sometimes when we fall
we are able to get up on our own, or with a little help. But what about the
times we are slammed with something bigger than our life?
Maybe you were walking
in the crosswalk with the light and you could see the cars stopping… all but
one; it comes swiftly toward you and then--. You get the picture. Life as you
know it has changed completely in that split second. Forever you see the cars
stopping and the one not stopping. Forever you see yourself sitting on the sidewalk
wondering why you cannot stand up. Wondering how did you get here?
You were doing the right thing, the proper way and yet still; bam, you are down!
Paul and Barnabus were
just sharing what God told them to share; the truth, through healing and the
words He gave them to speak. They were doing what was right and yet the people
chose to worship them, instead of God. Once they denounced them telling them
they were wrong the people stoned Paul and left him for dead. They were doing
the will of God and were slammed with the reality of the people’s wrong belief
system. Because they knew the truth of the matter they got back on the road and
preached and taught in other cities they
had been in before sharing that they were fine, and to keep walking even in
tribulations and trials; to keep walking with Jesus and trusting Him to help
them get back up.
10 So Paul called to him in a loud voice, “Stand
up!” And the man jumped to his feet and started walking. Acts 14:10
Even a good deed can end up causing trouble for us sometimes, even
walking with the light in the path laid out before you can cause you to have pain,
but what are we going to do with this pain? Are we going to allow anger and
sorrow and anguish to keep us down on the ground? Or are we going to stand up
on our feet and walk in His Word today? Through out the scriptures we can read
of men and women of God who got up on their feet despite their circumstances;
let’s read and be like them today! Get up on your feet! Get sharing the Word of
God and your testimony!
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you that you help us to get back up again.
Thank you that no matter what the stones of life feel like that You are here to
pull us back up on our feet to go forward and preach and to teach and to speak
to those who need life today. Pick us up and put us back on the path You have
put before us and help us achieve all that you wish for us to do. In Jesus’
name, amen.
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