Many are suffering today because they have no one to turn to. They have resigned themselves to the fact that they will be in their predicament the rest of their lives. Meantime, they engage in whatever thing they think best to live and survive. This was the situation of a lame man that was carried daily to the temple gate to beg for money, mentioned in the Book of Acts. Not having the physical ability to work, the man was only dependent on the dole out of people that passed by. However, things changed when the apostles Peter and John came by one day. Having compassion on the man, they did not try to meet his temporal needs. Rather, they went beyond what was expected of them and said to the man, “Look at us!” Being a beggar all his life, and since everyone had given up on his case, he was expecting to receive nothing but the usual donation. But as he responded to the command, and as his eyes locked with those of Peter, Peter quickly added, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (Acts 3:4-6). Getting a little help from Peter, the man’s feet and ankle instantly became strong and he began to walk. He then went with Peter and John to the temple courts walking and jumping and praising God. Hallelujah!
How did the man get the faith to respond to Peter’s command to walk? He could have just dismissed Peter’s command as a joke, since he surely had tried to walk many times before. But being fully focused, he responded with much expectation and faith – faith that emanated from Peter and John. When Peter told the man “Look at us”, he was actually drawing his attention to the faith that they have in the Lord Jesus Christ. As the lame man responded and his eyes “locked” with Peter and John’s, faith flowed to him and the miraculous healing came. Indeed, it was the faith of Peter and John that primarily brought this miraculous healing, yet without the man receiving the same faith by focusing his eyes on them, he could have not been healed. It is important, then, that those who minister to the sick have genuine faith that they can pass on to the sick person. The apostle Paul encouraged believers to project the right kind of faith when he said, “So then, men ought to regard us [or look at us] as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed” (1 Cor. 4:1).
Since many will draw faith from what they see in us, this makes us even more careful about the way we live. This is the reason why the apostle Paul admonished Timothy saying, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Tim 4:12). Unless we are regarded as faithful servants of the Lord, no one will look at us and “lock” their eyes with ours in order to draw from the faith that we profess to have. Men around us will always be looking for someone to draw strength and encouragement from. They will surely not want to be near people that are unable to control their tongue or those that are living impure lives.
When the man responded to the command of Peter to look at them, we are told that he was expecting to receive something from them. He did not just stare at them or gave them a blank look but there was much excitement and expectation. This expectation was appropriately described by the Psalmist when he said, “As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy” (Psalm 123:2). This Psalm projects the slaves as fully dependent on their master for survival. By the hand signal of their master they will have their portion of blessings. It is therefore imperative for them to watch the hands of their master with expectation. Unless they are watchful, they might miss the blessings. Similarly, we ought to have an expectant heart when we approach God with our prayer requests. We cannot just give God a “stare” and then dump all our petitions before him without expecting to receive an answer. Instead, we need to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith”.
The fact that faith flows when the eyes meet and are “locked” was also proven when the apostle Paul was ministering in Lystra. A man crippled from birth was listening intently at what Paul was saying and when their eyes “locked” and Paul discerned that faith had come upon the man, he commanded him to stand up on his feet and the man jumped up and began to walk (Acts 14:8-10). Friends, the Lord did it twice before, one with Peter and the other with Paul—he will also do it to us today. Let us have faith in him and pass this faith on to others. Let us live holy lives so that others will be attracted to us and will draw faith from us. Let us project the life of Jesus in our personal lives so that when people see us, they will see Jesus in us. Then, we can confidently tell others “Look at us” and they shall be saved. Praise the Lord!
