Waiting at the Gate Called Beautiful

Posted on by Cindy Powell
I recently ran across this devotion that I wrote several years ago. Since the Lord used it just recently to speak to my heart, I thought I would tweak it just a bit and post it here …


“Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”  – Acts 3:6

The man had been crippled since birth. Every day someone placed him outside the temple gate so he could beg from those entering the temple courts. He wasn’t looking for healing the day Peter and John passed by – he was merely looking for something to make him a bit more comfortable in his pain.

Um, ouch.

I recently heard someone preaching on this story and that point really hit my heart. Had the man given up on receiving the true desires of his heart? Had he been waiting so long and grown so accustomed to the way things were that he was just looking for a way to keep getting by?

I started thinking about some of the things I’d been asking Jesus for lately. Good things. Important things. But not always the best and most important things. Definitely not always the truest and deepest desires of my heart. 

Because, truthfully,  sometimes the “best” and “most important” things seem a bit too far out of reach. 

Not that I haven’t asked for them before. Not that I haven’t prayed every prayer I know to pray and done everything I know how to do to move forward in faith. But it hasn’t always worked out so well. And that’s the problem – been there, done that, gone out on that limb one too many times. I wouldn’t even know where to begin again, let alone how. So I’ve been asking for smaller things. Simple things to make life a little more comfortable right here and now.

But I don’t want to just settle for comfort in my pain – I want what’s best. I want ALL that Jesus’ sacrifice has purchased for me. As I started praying again and asking Him what I could “do” to ensure I didn’t settle for temporary comfort, He drew me back to the story in Acts 3. As I read the passage, I found a familiar answer:

The man didn’t do anything. He just kept showing up at the temple. And when Peter and John passed by, he looked up expecting to receive “something.”

I keep looking for something I can do. Jesus keeps reminding me of what He will do.

He is good. He doesn’t change. He is faithful. And He keeps his promises … even when we forget some of them because we’ve been waiting at that gate for such a very long time.

The man was no longer asking for his true desires, but God hadn’t forgotten them. All the man did was keep showing up. And he kept looking up … expecting to receive “something.”

I can do that. I can keep showing up. I can keep looking up. That’s all this man did and he got a whole lot more than he bargained for …

Maybe I will too.

********

I think this devo encouraged my heart when I read it again recently because I’ve been sensing that the Lord is awakening and stirring the dreams we no longer dream. It is a time of seeing answers to the prayers we no longer pray. Even when we forget–He doesn’t. So rather than beating yourself up for not doing what you can’t do–instead focus on what you can do. Keep showing up. Keep looking up …expecting to receive “something.”  Because “something” just might be whole lot more than you bargained for!

21 thoughts on “Waiting at the Gate Called Beautiful”

  2. Amen. Awesome insights. I’ve been through this, making my dreams smaller and smaller. But I think God is asking us prisoners of hope to dream big again this year. This sounds like a contradiction, but be ready for the unexpected! 🙂

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  4. Pingback: Waiting at the Gate Called Beautiful | It's not really about me...

  5. AMEN. Beautiful… This is a beautiful post that acts as an open gate… Jesus is the Gate. He is saying, “Come in. Come in to me and receive all that I have already purchased for you.” There is so much more for us! The Father has plans for each of us that have been on His heart since before we were born. He is re-igniting us, releasing us to dream. He is unlocking us to be who He made us to be. No more waiting, crippled and begging. It is time. Hallelujah!! Blessings in Jesus.

    P.S. Judi is the one that led me here…through a link on her blog.

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  7. Cindy, This is powerful. I love it. Just keep showing up, and looking up. This speaks of faith which pleases God and patience though which we inherit His pomises. Love it when we are surprised by the author of our faith. Thanks for sharing!

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      1. I love my brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, you being one of them. I am still thinking about that post you shared and I just want to encourage you that it has greatly blessed me to wait before my God with my requests and trust Him to answer. We so often can get sidetracked and forget about our God Who is mighty and able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think because we think He tarries with the answer. But I will believe and wait upon Him. God bless you:)

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  9. Reblogged this on New Heaven on Earth! and commented:
    The lyrics “we’re digging up deep, deep wells; we’re digging up deep, deep waters” keeps playing in my spirit, singing in my soul! I found myself unexpectedly at your Deeper Waters blog and want to share the wealth! thank you for this wonderful message! Holy Spirit has also been showing me that this is a year for our deepest heart’s desires to come true; for old prophesies over our life to be fulfilled; dreams and visions come to manifestation and now your words that even prayers we forgot we prayed will be answered! God is sooooo Good!!!!!!!!

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