“The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest.” (Thomas Moore)
Have you ever had one of those days that seemed to drag on and on, and you didn’t seem to get anything of any importance done? Or have you spent numerous days just simply working and taking care of what you needed to at home, such as laundry, meals, and so forth? And how often have we asked the Lord to use us in some manner in order to make a difference in somebody’s life? As much as we’d dearly love to reach multitudes for the Lord, we all pretty much realize that we most likely won’t ever come close to having the impact that someone like Billy Graham had. But we need to understand that God’s ways are not our ways, and what we see is most often not what God sees.
Do you remember this portion of Scripture?
"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)
One of the things that we need to understand is that this wasn’t a one-time incident. As a matter of fact, the implication is that this was a regular occurrence. And one of the other things is that there’s no mention of Peter’s destinations during those times. Whatever the case, he didn’t necessarily stop to pray for each person for their healing. He simply walked.
This may seem like a somewhat ridiculous question, but: what time of day did the people bring the sick into the streets? After all, there wouldn’t be too much of a problem if it was either morning or afternoon; but there’d be an issue if it was noon. Then again, what if it was overcast? If you consider it from these aspects, then you’ll have to conclude that this wasn’t his natural shadow.
Instead, this was the emanation of the Holy Spirit through Peter; and He did the healing.
That, then, presents something that we need to recognize: has the Holy Spirit changed? True: we don’t have the same anointing that Peter and the early church possessed. Theirs was greater than we’ve experienced today. But the Holy Spirit today is the same Holy Spirit of two thousand years ago. Therefore, time is not a barrier nor a changer to Him; and He can do through us what He did through Peter.
I want to clarify things a bit here. There are far too many believers who are groupies to the miraculous. In other words, they’re seeking for every demonstration of the miraculous and the supernatural that they can find. Now, the miraculous and the supernatural are normal in the Kingdom of God; and if we inhabit His Kingdom, then those are normal in our lives too. However, we need to distinguish between the overtly spectacular that so many are seeking and the truly miraculous and supernatural. If we can’t, then it will ultimately open a door for the enemy to subtly draw us aside.
Jesus said: “And these signs shall follow them that believe” (Mark 16:17), and then He proceeded to explain what those signs are. Consequently, far too many believers focus on that. Granted, those are signs of the Kingdom. But there are also some other signs of the Kingdom that don’t seem to garner as much attention and interest.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22 and 23)
And when we finally stand before the Lord, which is going to hold more weight with Him?
"Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:22 and 23)
With that said, we need to realize that the Lord isn’t expecting miracles from us; but He is expecting fruit. And that fruit comes to fruition through “the ordinary acts we practice every day at home”. Prophesying in His name, healing the sick, casting out devils, and the other signs seen in the last chapter of Mark are all external signs and are temporal, whereas the fruit of the Spirit are all internal and eternal. Therefore, our focus needs to be upon cultivating the eternal and allowing the temporal to happen if and when the Lord chooses.
One more thing that I want to say here has to do with Peter’s shadow. As I said at the beginning, we more often than not have mundane days. We go to work, we go to the grocery store, and we have a number of other responsibilities which seem to be fairly far removed from the spiritual aspect of our lives. But can you accept the fact that our daily routine really isn’t routine? For example, when we walk through the grocery store, God’s Spirit emanates undetected from us to others around us. So too when we go to work or school, when we go to the laundromat or the pharmacy or any other place.
You see, we may be limited in ourselves.
But God isn’t.
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