PS: On 1/23/20 I wrote on Acts 3, boldly (and perhaps presumptuously) saying “bring it on” about obeying the Holy Spirit concerning praying for folks publicly, laying on of hands, expecting miracles, etc.
I am confessing that it is harder than I made it seem—and I knew then it was hard. I was in the airport and I observed a man crippled, his foot twisted at a 90-degree angle. A stranger, and I was surrounded by strangers. No one even close to knowing who I was.
I chickened out. It has haunted me for the last week. What I wrote on 1/23/20 of Acts 3 echoes hollowly between my ears.
Here is where the Gospel steps in: God knew that I had the best intention when I wrote on Acts 3 and simultaneously knew I would succumb to my fears in the airport.
Did I feel bad and continue to feel bad? Yes.
Does God feel bad about me? No, emphatically no. He knows my frame, remember? At my core I am more inclined to sin and act selfishly (in my own self-interest where fear is a part of) than righteously or “walking worthy of the gospel.”
What this does show me:
- is that as I confess my sin, He is faithful to forgive my sin.
- He does not abandon me as an instrument unworthy of his Grace but is committed to make me in the image of His Son.
- As I am transparent about my failure and confess it, this may contribute to His Glory by letting the reader join me in hitching up our britches for the next time.
I am, yours in Christ,
Rick Sutton