People are often criticized for waiting for someone else to do for them what they should do for themselves. People are also criticized for failing to wait on God to get results.

In both cases, it is important to remember that God uses people to accomplish His will in the earth. God uses preachers to minister salvation and deliverance. He uses doctors and health professionals to heal . And I’ve frequently said that you will never get a check signed by God.

(Acts 3:1-10) Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze 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 and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

It’s really interesting how this fellow positioned himself at the temple. I believe this is because he saw himself yoked to the law. But, when Peter and John showed up, Grace presented itself and prevailed over his circumstances. He likely hung out at the temple because he saw himself under condemnation because of his condition. But, because of Grace, he left his condemnation behind and leapt away, liberated from the yoke of his situation.

Ascertain the Position — Locate

The first thing we see in the text is this man had friends or family position him at the gate of the temple with the hopes of receiving money (v2). This was typical because those who were invalid during the time of the Book of Acts were incapable of meaningful work and, therefore, were reduced to begging. In order to receive a miracle, you must be willing to put yourself in position to receive it. In Matthew 8:5-13, a Centurion made his way to Jesus to get healing for his servant. In Mark 5:21-40, Jairus came to Jesus looking for healing for his daughter but was interrupted by a woman who came to get healing for an issue of blood. In the midst of the delay, Jairus’ daughter died. Instead of healing for his daughter, he witnessed a greater miracle — seeing her resurrected from the dead.

Just like salvation requires an effort on your part, sometimes you have to be in the right place at the right time to receive the miraculous. Sometimes, though, you just simply need to locate God in you to receive it. The distance between these two scenarios is discernment. Grace gives us discernment.

Ascribing the Power — Look

The next thing that happens is Peter gives the man an instruction to look upon them (v4). Beggars typically begged with their heads lowered as a means of demonstrating humility. Contrary to what you may see, here, Peter was not getting the man to focus on them — he was getting the man to look at the power they were carrying. The author of Hebrews tells us that we should look to Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith. Peter had firsthand experience in looking because he had enough faith to look upon Jesus and step out of a boat in the midst of a storm. He also knew what happened when he looked away from Jesus — he began to sink (Matthew 4:28-33).

When we look to Jesus for what we need, we always find it.