Can you help?

"And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up - "              Acts 3:7    NKJV

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) shows us a reversal in stereotypes. A man had been badly beaten up on the road to Jericho and left for dead. After a while, a priest came along, saw him there and then crossed the road and went on his way without a second glance. Later a Levite did the same, but at least he stopped and looked, but then sadly walked on without offering any help as well. These were prominent men and really, would have been expected to offer some help to this poor man. But they didn't. Then along came a Samaritan, hated by the Jews and treated as an outcast. He stopped, checked the man over and seeing that he was badly injured, anointed his wounds and bandaged them up. He then took him to an Inn where he looked after him for a few days and then left. However, he paid for the man to remain there.

Can you see the difference? The priest and Levite passed by, offering no help. The Samaritan saw the need and offered him love, compassion and practical help. The injured man was in need of help and the Samaritan provided it. 

Likewise, Peter saw the need of the disabled man at the gate Beautiful. He spoke hope into this broken life and extended practical help by lifting him up onto his feet. David Guzik comments on this:

'And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up: It was one thing to say, “rise up and walk,” but it was a much greater thing to so boldly take the man’s hand and lift him to his feet. At this moment, Peter received the gift of faith described in 1 Corinthians 12:9 – a supernatural ability to trust God in a particular situation. This wasn’t something Peter did on a whim or as a promotional event; he did it under the specific prompting of the Holy Spirit. God gave Peter the supernatural ability to trust Him for something completely out of the ordinary.'

                                                                   David Guzik - Enduring Word

God will always be on hand to support us when we do the same. There are many people that we meet, who are in need. We may be tempted to say detrimental things such as, 'If they got a job, they wouldn't be like this.' This is not always the case and anyway, we have no right to judge people. We can though, speak hope to their broken lives and offer them some sort of help. Isn't this what the Good Samaritan was doing? He saw the need and met it, the best way he could. We can do the same.

Think, is there someone that you know about who could do with some help? Do they need a little compassion and some hope in their broken hour of need? Can you be the one that can offer this and if you can, will you? Obviously, we have to be wise when we offer a stranger some help but don't forget, God is with you, as He was with the Good Samaritan. You can't solve all of the world's problems; however, you can bring a ray of hope to someone who is desperately in need. Think about it.

Copyright 2021 Grahame Howard.                                 

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