The crowd swelled, clamoring to glimpse the lame man dance. A thousand eyes followed every exuberant leap—arms thrown high, hands splayed wide. Whooping shameless joy, the beggar skipped circles around Peter and John. Peter asked the gawkers, “Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness, we had made this man walk?”

So, what surprises us about God’s power? That it exists? That it works? No, we admitted some time ago that His power exceeds ours. We preach about it moving in our lives. We talk about it working on Earth. We tell its stories to kids. More adventurous souls even pray to receive a generous glop to energize a calling.

Unfortunately, we search much, but find little. We decry our churches’ lack and long for the abundant flow of robe and sandal days. And some of us—secretly, of course—wonder if miracle tales aren’t metaphors after all. Like the crowd, we assume that if we name something, we also understand it. Those folks looked for a magician to beat Romans. We look for wonders to fix country and culture. Both remain disappointed.

The truth is, we often miss the Holy Spirit when he jumps out, blocks our way, and thumbs his nose at us. We expect big and flashy and filter out small and quiet.

So, what happened the last time you heard God speak through an acquaintance of lesser esteem?

Psalms 8:1-9; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Acts 3:1- 26; 2 Timothy 3:1-5