By Dr. Gilbert W. Stafford
Scripture: Acts 3:1-10Not so long ago, I received a letter from a listener in the United Kingdom. He writes: “I am happy to report that about nine months ago whilst listening to your broadcast I came under a very strong conviction that my smoking did not bring glory to God so I phoned one of the UK’s contact numbers.” He then tells about Pastor John Larmour of the Birkenhead, England Church of God giving him some wise counsel and sending a follow up letter, after which he comments: “The Lord gave me victory over cigarettes, after 23 years of use! Thank you CBH.”
I like to hear people’s testimonies about changes for the good. Something happens which brings about a complete change in the story line of their lives.
That’s what I want to talk with you about on today’s program. A biblical example of this is the story about the crippled beggar in Acts 3:1-10: “One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms.
Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, ‘Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, ‘I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.’ And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God, and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”1
There are several components in this story which can help us as we deal with our own difficult situations and circumstances, whatever they are.
COPING WITH OUR PREDICAMENTS
First, the crippled man was coping with his predicament. He was doing what crippled men in the first century typically did, he begged for a living. How different things are in the twentieth century. We insist on the rights of those who have special needs so that being crippled should not keep anyone from pursuing a vocation and earning a living. If the crippled beggar were living in our century, it is likely that he would be a banker, teacher, or a leader of a country, at any rate a wage earner who happens to be crippled. But this story is from a very different time and place. This first century crippled man was doing what he could in his society to make a go of things. He might have chosen to do nothing. He could have starved himself to death. Instead, he coped with his predicament the best way he could.
Obviously, not all of us are in the same predicament as the crippled beggar. Nevertheless, we do find ourselves in all sorts of predicaments which are either impossible or almost impossible to change. Some time back, I was moved deeply when a young single mother of two small children called our office. Their father had abandoned them. She was despondent, wondering whether she could handle the situation financially and emotionally.
You may find yourself in a variety of other predicaments: some have medically incurable diseases; others live in despicable places; some have lost jobs with no prospects for another; others have children who are rebellious; some have irresponsible parents; others are on fixed incomes which are insufficient for paying the bills. Some of you have lost loved ones for whom your heart aches every hour of the day and night. These and many other predicaments have no quick solutions. The best we can do is to cope with whatever is. Coping is a matter of hanging on and making do with the situation as we find it.
I think of the dear people of Serajevo, Bosnia. In the too long siege of their city, they have coped by cutting down beautiful trees and breaking up furniture in order to have firewood to heat their houses. They have coped by rationing sparse food supplies. They have coped by having concerts and plays in poorly lighted auditoriums. They have coped by taking advantage of tenuous cease fires in order to dart to and fro doing things which had to be put on hold during more dangerous times. They have coped day after day, month after month, year after year in much the same way that the crippled beggar coped, that is, on a daily basis. Being brought to the temple gate each day to beg was his way of coping with a stubborn predicament that would not go away.
RECEIVING THE DIVINE SURPRISES
Notice that it was in the midst of his coping that he experienced a divine surprise. When Peter and John stretched out their hands to give him the divine touch, he could have cursed them for not giving him money, but he did not. He could have ignored them, and proceeded to ask others for what he wanted, but he did not. Instead, when they offered him something good for which he had not even asked, he responded with the simple faith of a child. He allowed Peter to take him by the right hand and raise him up. In the midst of coping with his stubborn predicament, a divine gift came his way. By receiving it, the story line of his entire life was altered.
There is a big difference between viewing one’s predicament as though it were the final state of things, and viewing it as the present state which may change. There is an important difference between coping in the spirit of fatalism, and coping in the spirit of hope. To cope in the spirit of fatalism blinds us to seeing the divine surprises when they come along—and they always do! Hopeless fatalism compounds the pain of coping. But, when we cope with hope we have eyes for seeing and faith for reaching out to the divine surprises that come our way. To cope with hope makes the coping itself more tolerable.
Charles and Ruby, in mid-life, find themselves in a terrible predicament. Their adult son is a paraplegic as a result of an automobile accident. Since he is so hard to handle, Charles quit his job to take care of him. That leaves Ruby as the only wage earner, and hers is a relatively low paying job. They have a major financial shortfall. Nevertheless, Charles and Ruby are doggedly devoted to coping with the stressful realities of their lives. They simply make do with the way things are. When friends suggest other options, they turn away from the discussion almost in disgust. The tragedy is that things could be different. For instance, when others volunteer to take care of their son for free so that they can be relieved from time to time, they always decline the offer. They are so fixated on simply coping that they can not receive the divine gift offered. Such an attitude is robbing Charles and Ruby of a gift which could make a big difference in the story line of their lives.
What if when Peter and John came along, offering the divine gift to the crippled beggar, instead of receiving it, he had rejected it? The story line of his life would have been more of the same that day. But since he received the divine gift, his story line was changed for the good. By coping with hope, he was in a position to recognize and receive the divine gift when it came.
REJOICING AT WHAT GOD HAS DONE
Notice also that when he realized that something good had happened, he jumped up, stood and began to walk. He entered the temple, “leaping and praising God.” The result was that those who knew him in his former state, “were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”
Not much of a change takes place in our story line apart from the praise of God. Something mysterious happens to us when we begin praising the Lord for what he has done.
When God does something good in your life, tell somebody about it. It will benefit both you and those whom you tell. Giving testimony not only helps to change one’s own story line; it changes the story line of everybody who hears our testimony. The change in the beggar’s story line was so radical that those who knew him prior to the divine touch on his life, “were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”
Testimonies are windows into the activity of God. They provide us with openings into another reality. That reality is that God is at work.
Coping, receiving, rejoicing—those are the components for changing the story line of one’s life for the good.
Do you want the story line of your life to change? If so, keep on coping with the predicament you find yourself in. By God’s grace, don’t give up. God will help you to cope with hope. To do so will make you able and willing to receive the divine surprise when it comes. And then testify. Let your praise of God change your story line and the story line of other people’s lives as well. My dear friend, whatever stubborn predicament you find yourself in, the good news is that the story line of your life can be changed for the good. How about allowing it to happen even now?
PRAYER
Let us pray:
Gracious Lord, we thank you for giving us coping grace, helping grace and testifying grace. So work in our hearts and lives to the end that the story line of our life will be changed for the good. In the name of Christ who is the changer of story lines. Amen.
1 New Revised Standard version used here and throughout.
I like to hear people’s testimonies about changes for the good. Something happens which brings about a complete change in the story line of their lives.
That’s what I want to talk with you about on today’s program. A biblical example of this is the story about the crippled beggar in Acts 3:1-10: “One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked them for alms.
Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, ‘Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, ‘I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, stand up and walk.’ And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. Jumping up, he stood and began to walk, and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God, and they recognized him as the one who used to sit and ask for alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”1
There are several components in this story which can help us as we deal with our own difficult situations and circumstances, whatever they are.
COPING WITH OUR PREDICAMENTS
First, the crippled man was coping with his predicament. He was doing what crippled men in the first century typically did, he begged for a living. How different things are in the twentieth century. We insist on the rights of those who have special needs so that being crippled should not keep anyone from pursuing a vocation and earning a living. If the crippled beggar were living in our century, it is likely that he would be a banker, teacher, or a leader of a country, at any rate a wage earner who happens to be crippled. But this story is from a very different time and place. This first century crippled man was doing what he could in his society to make a go of things. He might have chosen to do nothing. He could have starved himself to death. Instead, he coped with his predicament the best way he could.
Obviously, not all of us are in the same predicament as the crippled beggar. Nevertheless, we do find ourselves in all sorts of predicaments which are either impossible or almost impossible to change. Some time back, I was moved deeply when a young single mother of two small children called our office. Their father had abandoned them. She was despondent, wondering whether she could handle the situation financially and emotionally.
You may find yourself in a variety of other predicaments: some have medically incurable diseases; others live in despicable places; some have lost jobs with no prospects for another; others have children who are rebellious; some have irresponsible parents; others are on fixed incomes which are insufficient for paying the bills. Some of you have lost loved ones for whom your heart aches every hour of the day and night. These and many other predicaments have no quick solutions. The best we can do is to cope with whatever is. Coping is a matter of hanging on and making do with the situation as we find it.
I think of the dear people of Serajevo, Bosnia. In the too long siege of their city, they have coped by cutting down beautiful trees and breaking up furniture in order to have firewood to heat their houses. They have coped by rationing sparse food supplies. They have coped by having concerts and plays in poorly lighted auditoriums. They have coped by taking advantage of tenuous cease fires in order to dart to and fro doing things which had to be put on hold during more dangerous times. They have coped day after day, month after month, year after year in much the same way that the crippled beggar coped, that is, on a daily basis. Being brought to the temple gate each day to beg was his way of coping with a stubborn predicament that would not go away.
RECEIVING THE DIVINE SURPRISES
Notice that it was in the midst of his coping that he experienced a divine surprise. When Peter and John stretched out their hands to give him the divine touch, he could have cursed them for not giving him money, but he did not. He could have ignored them, and proceeded to ask others for what he wanted, but he did not. Instead, when they offered him something good for which he had not even asked, he responded with the simple faith of a child. He allowed Peter to take him by the right hand and raise him up. In the midst of coping with his stubborn predicament, a divine gift came his way. By receiving it, the story line of his entire life was altered.
There is a big difference between viewing one’s predicament as though it were the final state of things, and viewing it as the present state which may change. There is an important difference between coping in the spirit of fatalism, and coping in the spirit of hope. To cope in the spirit of fatalism blinds us to seeing the divine surprises when they come along—and they always do! Hopeless fatalism compounds the pain of coping. But, when we cope with hope we have eyes for seeing and faith for reaching out to the divine surprises that come our way. To cope with hope makes the coping itself more tolerable.
Charles and Ruby, in mid-life, find themselves in a terrible predicament. Their adult son is a paraplegic as a result of an automobile accident. Since he is so hard to handle, Charles quit his job to take care of him. That leaves Ruby as the only wage earner, and hers is a relatively low paying job. They have a major financial shortfall. Nevertheless, Charles and Ruby are doggedly devoted to coping with the stressful realities of their lives. They simply make do with the way things are. When friends suggest other options, they turn away from the discussion almost in disgust. The tragedy is that things could be different. For instance, when others volunteer to take care of their son for free so that they can be relieved from time to time, they always decline the offer. They are so fixated on simply coping that they can not receive the divine gift offered. Such an attitude is robbing Charles and Ruby of a gift which could make a big difference in the story line of their lives.
What if when Peter and John came along, offering the divine gift to the crippled beggar, instead of receiving it, he had rejected it? The story line of his life would have been more of the same that day. But since he received the divine gift, his story line was changed for the good. By coping with hope, he was in a position to recognize and receive the divine gift when it came.
REJOICING AT WHAT GOD HAS DONE
Notice also that when he realized that something good had happened, he jumped up, stood and began to walk. He entered the temple, “leaping and praising God.” The result was that those who knew him in his former state, “were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”
Not much of a change takes place in our story line apart from the praise of God. Something mysterious happens to us when we begin praising the Lord for what he has done.
When God does something good in your life, tell somebody about it. It will benefit both you and those whom you tell. Giving testimony not only helps to change one’s own story line; it changes the story line of everybody who hears our testimony. The change in the beggar’s story line was so radical that those who knew him prior to the divine touch on his life, “were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.”
Testimonies are windows into the activity of God. They provide us with openings into another reality. That reality is that God is at work.
Coping, receiving, rejoicing—those are the components for changing the story line of one’s life for the good.
Do you want the story line of your life to change? If so, keep on coping with the predicament you find yourself in. By God’s grace, don’t give up. God will help you to cope with hope. To do so will make you able and willing to receive the divine surprise when it comes. And then testify. Let your praise of God change your story line and the story line of other people’s lives as well. My dear friend, whatever stubborn predicament you find yourself in, the good news is that the story line of your life can be changed for the good. How about allowing it to happen even now?
PRAYER
Let us pray:
Gracious Lord, we thank you for giving us coping grace, helping grace and testifying grace. So work in our hearts and lives to the end that the story line of our life will be changed for the good. In the name of Christ who is the changer of story lines. Amen.
1 New Revised Standard version used here and throughout.
Script 2573 (GWS)
April 21, 1996
SERIES: STORY POWER
3. Change in the Story Line
Scripture: Acts 3:1-10
April 21, 1996
SERIES: STORY POWER
3. Change in the Story Line
Scripture: Acts 3:1-10
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