I don’t know about you but the picture painted before me when I read this verse is one of Progress. The lame man ( or previously lame man) leaped up and stood, which reminds me of that initial fire we all experience when we first come to the realization of what God has done for us, and then respond with fervent worship. Then he stood, grounding himself in his new found life of freedom and mobility. In the same way we have that “grounding” season in our lives when we are just receiving as much as we can and trying to establish ourselves before the Lord rooting ourselves in the gospel of Christ. Then he entered the temple, the place where he could never enter before because of his ailment, we all come to that point when we enter the temple, and leave behind the shame and guilt that kept us from it in the first place. We can now proclaim holiness, not because of what we ourselves have done, but because of that which has been done for us. The more we dwell in Him, what He has done for us, and the promises the Lord has given us, the more we can approach Him and His temple of glory without blemish, not perfect but covered in the sanctification of the sacrifice of our Savior.The man not only entered the temple, but did so walking. This to me shows a certain confidence in what the Lord has done in his life, we don’t see him stop and hesitate at the gates, or worry that he would get kicked out. Although I’m sure a part of him was apprehensive, this makes me think that the man was confident in not only that the work that God had done in his life was real, but confident in God Himself and who the he now was because he had been touched by Yahweh.
This is the area that I tend to struggle with the most, stepping into the temple and realizing that God really has had His hand in my life, and continues to Love me each and every day. I haven’t quite mastered the standing confident in what He has done and who I am in Him. I mean don’t get me wrong, I cannot deny that time and time again the God of space and time has intervened in my life and brought me close to Himself, but as far as being confident in who I am in Him and what He has done in my life it’s still a very big struggle for me.
It can be discouraging at times, because the people that have gotten to that point can leap in the sight of the Lord and Praise Him and seem to have the Lord do all of the amazing and wonderful spiritual things in their lives, while I’m still over here learning to walk on Holy Ground. If there is one thing that the Lord has really been pouring into me for the last few days is that everyone’s walk is different, and go at different speeds. Some might go from 0 to 100 in 5 seconds, and others might need some warming up. It’s not about how fast you go, but about the progress you make along the way. There is no use comparing my walk with another, because we are not the same person, we have not experienced the same things, some instances might be similar but never the same. God has a SPECIFIC plan, meaning a plan that is tailor made for me, of course it’s going to be different from the plan that He has for those around me, but that doesn’t mean that it is any less valuable or impacting, it doesn’t mean that I am worth less to Him than others. What it means is that He Loves me so much that He has precisely mapped out every footstep in order to make sure that I don’t fall back into my crippleness but thrive through His Redemption.
Application: I will put spiritual blinders on focusing on my walk with the Lord, and not others’, and when I feel the enemy provoking my feeling of unworthiness I will cry out to the name of the Lord, pray against it, and then find someone else to pray with me and for me.
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