One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the evil that was going on. He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out.

So he called on a female angel and sent her to Earth for a time. When she returned she told God, yes it is bad on Earth, 95% is bad and 5% is good.

Well, he thought for a moment and said maybe I had better send down a male angel; to get both points of view. So God called a male angel and sent him to Earth for a time. When the male angel returned he went to God and told him yes, the Earth was in decline, 95% was bad and 5% was good.

God said this was not good. He decided to E-Mail the 5% that were good and encourage them, a little something to help them keep going.

Do you know what that E-Mail said?

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Ohhhh... So you didn't get one either!

This humorous story reminded me of what I just read from Acts 3:

While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's, astounded (Acts 3:11 ESV).

Acts 4:22, tells us that this man had been healed at the age of forty. Acts 3:2, tells us that this man was born lame from his mother’s womb. So for forty years this man never was able to walk. He had gone to the steps of the temple for years, begging, asking for prayer and seeking to be healed.

One day, Peter and John arrive and through the power of Jesus, this man becomes healed. He can walk for the first time in his life. Acts 3:11, states that the people were astounded! You know why? Because many of them had been praying for the man’s healing. Many of them even laid hands on him. Many of them had given up. Now before their eyes this man is healed and it is truly an amazement.

Like the email above from God, you may not get one. You may not be the one whose prayers heal the person you prayed for. You may not be the one whom God uses to bring help, counsel and restoration to a hurting family for friend. However, if someone else comes along that God uses to perform a miracle that did not involve you directly, how would that make you feel? Would you still rejoice even if you were not used directly by God?

Notice carefully how the healed man “clung” to Peter and John. He got healed and so he could walk, but he held on to Peter and John. About 24 to 48 hours later, notice what is said in Acts 4:14: But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.

Was the healed man “clinging” to Peter and John? No, he was now standing BESIDE them.

Here’s the point: When you help someone to walk again (physically or spiritually), expect that person to be clinging to you for a while. This is natural. This is to be expected. You in a sense are their savior – the one whom God used to answer their prayer. You have become a father, mother or big brother or sister figure to them. Your miracle will cling to you.

But, be sure that after a short while, get him or her to stop holding on to you and start to stand beside you instead. When you do this, you are helping the person to not depend so much on you but to transfer all dependence on God alone. Oh yes, he or she will still come to you now and then for help, advice and direction. But when they do, you are to show them how they can access the throne of God on their own and hear from God themselves.

Yes, we all may not get an email from God since we may not be in that ninety-five percent that is good. But when you see something good happen before your eyes even if you had nothing to do with it, can you still rejoice and give God the glory? Perhaps, if we do this often enough, we may move out of the ninety-five percent that’s bad and into the five percent that’s good.