“Peter and John were going up to the temple at three o’clock in the afternoon, the established prayer time. Meanwhile, a man crippled since birth was being carried in. Every day, people would place him at the temple gate known as the Beautiful Gate so he could ask for money from those entering the temple. […] Peter said, “I don’t have any money, but I will give you what I do have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, rise up and walk!”. Then he grasped the man’s right hand and raised him up. At once his feet and ankles became strong.”
Acts 3: 1-2,6-7 (Common English Bible)
Peter did not have any money, but he gave him something far more valuable. Most of us would want money, worldly things. Peter let Jesus flow through him and gave the beggar something far more powerful.
I read this verse several times before I interpreted it that way. Not because I was looking to interpret this particular verse a certain way, but because sometimes there are multiple ways that things can be read.
The beggar had something that he wanted (money), which I feel is pretty normal. We all have an income, and our incomes allows us to have the lifestyles that we have.
What struck me about that verse eventually after I read it a few times is that the beggar didn’t get what he probably initially wanted (money), but God was able to provide him with something far greater than money, the ability to walk. And the beggar can do far more and have a lot bigger influence with the ability to walk than he could have had if he’d gotten what he initially wanted. He didn’t get what he wanted initially, but his life was far better off for it.
Which leads me to this:
Not getting what we want may not look like the greatest thing at the time, and it may not be the greatest thing at the time, but sometimes not getting what we thought we wanted can be one of the best things to happen to us. I can say that that is definitely true for me. There are a lot of things that I wanted (or thought that I wanted) that I haven’t gotten, and God has turned what I thought were failures into far better things than I ever could have imagined for myself.