Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.
Acts 5:15
Dear Friends,
Greetings in Christ!
In this post, let’s take a closer look at the way people were healed when Peter’s shadow touched them. Jesus endowed the apostles with immense power to lead the early church. (Matt 18:18 et al) The people were witnessing mighty miracles at their hands. (Acts 3:7 et al) The witness of the Holy Spirit was strong in the hearts of the people. (Acts 5:32)
Jesus said that if we have only a mustard-seed-sized faith, we can move mountains. That statement shows how lacking our faith is. We murmur and complain. We faint in the day of adversity. We are prone to disobey Jesus’ commandments and quick to forget God’s promises.
Sometimes, people decide in their heart that if such and such happens, then they will have faith. For a certain woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years, it was touching the hem of Jesus’ garment. Her faith was only strong enough to believe she would be healed if she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. When she was healed, Jesus told her that her faith had made her whole (not his garment).
The kind of faith that is the most pleasing to Jesus is the faith that does not need to see to believe (John 20:29), the kind of faith that believes without pretense (Luke 7:8f). Yet, Jesus also honors the faith of those who need a little something extra to believe. I have met people who would pray over a glass of water, then drink the water believing it would heal them, and it did. They offered me some of the water and I politely declined, because it did not add anything to my faith, but it did to theirs. I believe such was the case with Peter’s shadow.
When people believed ‘If only we can get Hannah close enough to touch Peter’s shadow, God will heal her’, it was good enough for Jesus. Jesus wanted them to believe the gospel Peter was preaching, and the miracles helped them to believe. Jesus always meets us where we are. At first, our faith is weak and our understanding is shallow. Then over time, our faith increases as we see Him answer our prayers and guide us through our trials. It helps when we spend time in the word each day (Rom 10:17), and always remember to pray before we read our Bible. This process is key to our walk with Jesus. (Rom 1:17; II Cor 5:7)
In closing, sometimes God’s answer is no, regardless of how strong our faith is. True faith continues to believe even when God does not heal. (II Cor 12:8f)
Father, increase our faith. Fill us with your Holy Spirit. Direct our paths. Use our lights to shine in the darkness and light the way for others to believe on your Son, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
