What Happens When You Really Look?

Most people saw a beggar. Peter saw a divine appointment. What happens when you really look?

What do you do when you see a beggar?

Most of us don’t consciously think through our response, yet we make a decision almost instantly. Some refuse to look. Some glance over with suspicion. Some make eye contact and quickly look away. Others roll down their window and hand over a few dollars. A very few stop, offer food, and spend a few moments talking with the person.

None of those responses necessarily comes from a hard heart. We wonder if the money will buy food or feed an addiction. We question whether we’re helping or enabling. Sometimes our hesitation comes from wisdom; other times it comes from uncertainty. Whatever the reason, we often find ourselves asking, “Lord, what should I do?”

Acts 3 records a response I’ve never personally witnessed.

Peter and John, freshly filled with the Holy Spirit after Pentecost, were walking to the temple when they encountered a man who had been crippled from birth and laid daily at the temple gate to beg. On another day they might have tossed him a few coins or quietly walked by. Instead, Peter fixed his gaze on the man. Instead of looking away, he invited the beggar to look back. “Look at us.” 

The beggar looked up, expecting money.

He received something far greater.

Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” Taking him by the right hand, Peter helped him to his feet, and immediately the man’s feet and ankles were made strong. Leaping up, he walked into the temple praising God (Acts 3:4–8).

There were undoubtedly many beggars around the temple that day, yet God had prepared one divine appointment for Peter and John. The beggar expected a gift. God intended restoration. Peter simply became the instrument through whom God accomplished His work.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus repeatedly stopped for the people everyone else hurried past. Filled with His Spirit, Peter began to do the same.

That raises an important question for us. When you ask God, “What should I do?” or “How should I respond to this need?” don’t assume His answer will always fit comfortably within your expectations. Charity and generosity begin with God, not with us. He has already been extravagantly generous toward us in Christ.

God has entrusted each of us with resources—time, compassion, encouragement, wisdom, possessions, influence, and the gospel itself. Whether those resources seem abundant or small, be willing to become God’s middle-man in delivering a blessing He has already planned for someone else. Sometimes the greatest gift you can offer isn’t what a person expects but what God knows they truly need.

Today, before you look away, ask God to help you really look. He may have prepared a divine appointment for you—or for someone waiting to hear, “Look at us.”