Peace family, do you struggle with shame? Do you really believe that your brokenness, your failures, your damage and your disappointments can all be redeemed by God, and bring glory to him? They can, as you turn them over to him.
This morning, I was reading Acts 3:1-10, in which Peter and John heal a lame beggar outside of the Temple gate called, “Beautiful.” There are so many reasons that I love this story. For one, you get an idea of the beggar’s shame, because they have to ask him to look them in the eyes. It also reflects God’s miraculous provision, because although the beggar expects them to give him some money, they have something infinitely better for him: the healing of his legs and ankles, and the ability to walk, in Jesus’ name. After he is healed, the man goes into the temple courts, walking, jumping, and praising God. The Bible says, “When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.” —Acts 3:9-10, (NIV)
Peace family, life breaks us and maims us, and sometimes it’s easy to feel like an undeserving beggar who can’t even look other people in the eye. However, when we are honest about our shortcomings and also about God’s movement in our lives, people are filled with “wonder and amazement.” Do people recognize you by your brokenness? Then let them recognize you by the ways that God is moving and healing in your brokenness. Sometimes the solutions that God has for us aren’t at all what we were expecting, but that doesn’t cancel out the miracles he does in our lives.
None of your failures are too powerful for God. If you are a believer in Christ, and you’ve been struggling along in an identity of Shame, no more! Your identity is Praise. Look up to your Healer, and walk out in worship. We serve the God of all healing and redemption. Let’s be open in our praise of him, for all of the ways that he has saved us, provided for us, and worked in our lives. Let’s spread wonder and amazement for what God has done in and for us, today!
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