Walking

My youngest grandchild, Marina the Marvelous, is doing her darnedest to walk. She’s not yet a year old but she has an older brother, Bryce the Brave, with whom she really would like to keep up. So far she can pull up on things, stand while holding on to something, walk behind a push toy, and attempt to climb stairs. The last is causing her parents lots of grief. The strength to walk is developing quite nicely but the coordination and balance required to truly let loose and get going is not quite there yet.

Learning to walk is quite a challenge and takes some time. In addition to the very young, people who have been injured sometimes have to relearn how to walk. Again, a very slow process.

In Acts 3, we read about a man crippled from birth who begs from Peter and John. The man has been carried to his begging spot outside the Temple where he has gone for years. Peter tells him that they have no silver or gold, but “what I have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Peter takes the man by the right hand and helps him up, and “instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk.”

Everyone marvels at what has happened: the man who has been crippled, unable to walk, is now walking! He has been healed! His feet and ankles became strong.

But wait. That’s not all that happened here. There was a very visible healing and miracle but there were also a couple of invisible or ignored miracles: the man also knew HOW to walk and HOW to balance himself. It wasn’t just that he had healed muscle tone and strength.

Remember Marina the Marvelous? She has the strength, she has the muscles. But the mechanics and balance aren’t quite all tied together yet. This man had never walked before. Walking was not something he had ever learned or been able to learn. And yet when Peter healed him in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, ALL of the man was healed.

Sometimes what we think needs healing is just part of the story. The good news is that even when we only bring the presenting problem to Him, He knows the complete underlying issue. He will not leave us broken.