What can the Holy Spirit can accomplish through us if we are open to hear and see

08Sep
In Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet and had never walked, for he had been crippled from birth. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. And Paul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said in a loud voice, ‘Stand upright on your feet.’ And the man sprang up and began to walk. When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, ‘The gods have come down to us in human form!’ Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. …. When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, ‘Friends, why are you doing this? We are mortals just like you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

…. Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.
-Acts 14: 8-18


My wife will sometimes tell me, “It’s not always about you”. An old family story about my early childhood illustrates that she is not wrong about this tendency of mine. My father was hoping to get me to ponder about physics when I was about five. “Billy, why did the ball hit the floor?” he asked after dropping it. “Because I didn’t catch it.” I responded. 


How tempting it must have been for Paul and Barnabas in Lystra to let the moment go to their heads with the response of the crowd after the healing of the lame man. “The gods have come down to us in human form”. I think it is also a miracle that they were able to recognize this was the Holy Spirit working through them and not a new personal power they had developed. It was not about them but about God acting through them. Paul’s eyes were also opened, after looking at the man intently and seeing ahead of time that the man had faith to be healed. This passage is a testament to how much the Holy Spirit can accomplish through us if we are open to hear and see as God wishes us to do. Focusing on our own accomplishments, or mistakes can prevent us from hearing God’s voice.


The other timeless human stumbling block in this story is the temptation to set up other idols in place of God. We do not have gods such as Zeus or Hermes today, but we definitely have our sports figures and pop musicians and other celebrities whom we hold up as special paragons of virtue. The people of Lystra wanted to idolize Paul and Barnabas. Although Paul and Barnabas tore their garments and insisted “we are mortals just like you”, they barely kept the crowds from offering sacrifice to them. Admitting that we are all mortals just like one another allows us to let God work through us in spite of our common vulnerability to temptation, whether that be the temptation to be idolized or the temptation to idolize someone else.


Musical Reflection - Fix You - Coldplay


Holy Spirit, breathe through my life today and help me to heal by looking toward those in need of healing, and to be healed from my own afflictions and temptations. Amen.

Holy Spirit

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