Peter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down, prayed, and turning toward the body said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up.”
Meredith Flynn
My favorite part of the book of Acts is that we often get to read the rest of the story. The apostles did these amazing things, and then this even more amazing thing happened next. People saw the gospel in action and then believed in Jesus. Acts doesn’t leave us guessing. We get results.
The healing of Tabitha in Acts 9:36-43 is no exception. Peter came to Joppa and raised a very revered woman from the dead; people heard about it and “many believed in the Lord.” Action, result. What a wonderful account of the early church!
I have never been raised from the dead physically, nor have I seen anyone come out of death back to physical life. I have seen people get up, though. Through the power of Christ, I’ve seen people stand up out of all manner of things: addiction, gossip, workaholism, anger, greed, jealousy. We are so often “asleep” in the things we idolize, but God is good to call us out of them. And when people get up, others take notice.
Before I moved to Illinois, I lived in a city where churches partnered to minister to recovering addicts. It seemed like everywhere I went, I ran into people on either side of this ministry. Either they had heard the gospel through it, or they were somehow involved in keeping it running. It was a city-wide testimony to the power of God to call people out of death and into life.
Every place has testimonies just like that. They are in your church—stories of how God’s continuous, transforming work in an individual life results in a powerful reversal from dark to light. Those stories are in our communities too, when churches stand up together to show God’s mercy and love and kindness.
The stories we know best are from our own hearts, the hidden sins from which God calls us to get up.
The example of Tabitha reminds us to recognize those stories and keep them close. Write them down. Remember the times God has called us to stand up. They are a mercy to us, and a powerful testimony to everybody watching.
Meredith Day Flynn is pastor’s daughter and an active servant at Delta Church in Springfield.