Acts 3:2 “Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.”
Something beautiful happened at the Gate Beautiful in Jerusalem. A crippled man—a man who had never walked in his whole life—received new legs. He sat at the Temple every day, hand outstretched, hoping for a few charitable crumbs in order to simply exist. He had no idea when he asked Peter and John for money that he was going to receive a bank vault! Peter’s transforming words: “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
And he did! Right there in front of Peter, John, and the whole crowd, that poor man got new legs. Legs that took him off the beggar list. Legs that would restore his sense of dignity as a member of society. Once completely flaccid legs could now not only walk but jump up and down. And that’s exactly what happened on this beautiful day. A poster boy for the power of Jesus Christ was born.
I believe something beautiful happens every time heaven touches earth. Sometimes it comes in dramatic fashion like the lame man walking. Other times the supernatural seems almost natural. But no matter how it happens, it’s a beautiful thing.
A decoupage of my husband and me hangs in our foyer. My aunt captured the picture right after we were married. We’re waving and laughing, the epitome of newly married bliss. She penned Something Beautiful Happened across the frame. There’s no question in my mind that heaven intervened in bringing us together. How else can you explain a Pennsylvania boy fresh out of Viet Nam picking up a University of Colorado grad student when she was hitchhiking at the Grand Canyon? Forty-eight years later and it’s still beautiful.
God created beauty. And he delights in making beautiful things happen. So why not ask him to let us be carriers of his beauty? Maybe he would use us to lift up those weighed down by the ugliness in the world. Let’s not miss one opportunity to give what we have to bring heaven to earth.