Acts Day 54 - Don't Worry About the When, Don't Worry About the How

3:11 Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed. 12 So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. 14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”

Someone asked me recently if I wanted to just shout the Truth to the world. Actually when I walk in crowds of strangers I wonder if they have any clue about the real Story; if they know we are in a war. I wonder how we will ever reach them. All my life I've been hearing how we have to tell the world. Jesus Himself said He won't return until the Gospel is preached to the whole earth. It's a daunting task. It seems impossible. The world population is increasing at a rapid pace. We're actually getting further behind every day.

But that's exactly the problem. We look at the mission and we look at ourselves and we conclude (correctly I might add) that the task is impossible.

Do you remember the day Jesus had been with a large crowd all day and they were hungry with no place to get food? Jesus gave the disciples a mission - we need to feed them. The disciples looked at the mission and then at their resources and quickly concluded it was impossible. One little boy overheard the dilemma and offered his lunch: Five bread and two fish. The crowd was 5000 men plus women and children. Again impossible. If the only factors in the equation are us and the mission indeed it is impossible. But that's where we are wrong. We are not alone in carrying out the mission.

See Jesus sent Peter and John to the temple. At the temple were hundreds and maybe thousands of Jewish worshippers. Their mission was to tell them about Jesus but how? They had no reason to listen and centuries of prejudice and error infused in them. How would they ever find a way to break through the barriers?

When they arrived the Spirit of God whispered into the mind of Peter "Offer healing to that lame man." Peter obeyed. By obeying that lame man became a leaping, praising billboard. He became an advertisement money couldn't by and rather than trying to find a way to reach the crowd, the crowd pressed in to listen and see and find out what this was all about.

We too quickly forget it is His mission and the crowds are His children. We forget that He is not piling an impossible mission on our shoulders but rather inviting us to participate in what He is doing. Peter could not draw a crowd of resistant Jews but he could walk to the temple and He could obey the prompting of God's Spirit.

Don't sweat what you can't do. Be faithful in the little things you can do like sharing your lunch or walking somewhere or boldly obeying His voice. Do those little things and when He decides the timing is right, watch what He'll do!

Impossible? With Jesus all things are possible!