Acts 9:40-43

Summary retelling of Acts 9:40-43

Peter hears all the mourning and all the stories, but he puts everyone outside the room.  Peter then kneels and he prays and invites Tabitha to wake up.  Tabitha did, and she saw Peter and sat up.  Peter helped her to her feet and called in all the people who had been mourning her death.  The story of her resurrection spread throughout Joppa and more people came to believe in Jesus Christ.  Peter stayed in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Peter sends everyone away.  He pushes people out of the room.  There might have been many reasons for this.  Some say that Peter didn’t think they genuinely believed she could be raised from death – much like people laughed at Jesus when he healed Jairus’ daughter in Mark5:38-43.  Some say Peter needed quiet to be able to genuinely sense God’s will.  Some say God’s power is so great that only the genuinely faithful could endure the moment of resurrection.  Others say that seeing Tabitha open her eyes might have caused health problems in some other people from shock.  Whatever the reason, Peter pushes everyone outside of the room.

Have you ever felt like you needed space to genuinely get with God?  Have you ever felt like the people around you weren’t focused on what you were focused upon so you needed to be alone?  Can you think of any other reasons Peter might have pushed people out of the room?

Second Thought:

Notice that Peter prays before turning towards the body.  Peter needed to be in contact with God before doing anything about Tabitha.  Christianity is about preparation.  Being in touch with God is about preparation.  A Christians does not have an idea and then prepare to succeed.  The Christian prepares for success and waits for God to come out of that preparation and give them the idea.  So many Christians get this wrong.  So many Christians start with the idea.  True Christianity is about preparation, letting God direct, and letting our preparation move us to where God is directing us to go.

Why do you think so many people mess up the order?  Why do so many people not prepare (or become disciples) until after they think they have an idea?

Third Thought:

Again we see that the healing of someone comes so that God would be praised and people would come to know Him.  Yes, Tabitha gets to reap the benefit of an extended life.  But the real benefit is not Tabitha’s coming back to life – it is that people hear about her story and come to know God.  People are healed primarily for God’s glory and for the sake of others as a calling to know God!

Do you think it is possible that we don’t see “miraculous healings” today because God knows that even if He did work in that manner people wouldn’t choose to see it as Him being at work anyway?  Do you think that we don’t see healings like this because the person being healed would focus on their “life” rather than “using their life to tall God’s story?”

Passage for Tomorrow: Acts 10: 1-3