Welcome to Redeem the Commute. I’m Ryan, your host for this daily challenge. It’s Thursday, the day we try to apply and live out what we’ve learned this week from the Bible. This week we’ve been studying how one of Jesus’ followers, Peter, brought someone back to life.

The most important sign here is that Jesus’ resurrection was not the end, it was only the beginning.

Hope for all of us – that death was not the end for Jesus – and is not the end for those who follow him.

When his followers die, they can trust they will someday rise again.

He went first, and blazed a trail we can follow. He’s inviting us now to practice life in his kingdom, here and now. Then when he returns, or when we die, he can raise us to new life in his kingdom, and we’ll be ready and familiar with his ways.

Miracles all through Jesus’ life were not about instantly changing the entire world, healing every disease in that moment, etc. They were about showing us his kingdom, where that would someday be the case. He wanted to show us signs of his kingdom here and now, so we’d be ready for what was coming.

Her coming back to life was a sign for us of the kingdom. An encouragement for us to trust Jesus, even through our deaths.

But also to follow Jesus, like Peter, into difficult and even impossible situations.

Does that means we’re supposed to all become faith healers, finding sick people and putting them on a stage where we push them down and command them to be well?

No, as we see here, Peter did this in private. He knelt down and prayed. Only then did he tell her to rise up.

Healing isn’t something Peter did, and it’s not something we can do, but it’s something God can do through us.

It takes courage; trust to pray for someone’s healing. Not in ourselves, but in the one who created us for a life without pain, sorrow, sickness or death.

Peter was no hero – he had made plenty of mistakes. But God could still heal others, and reach others through him, regardless of his shortcomings, because Peter was willing to obey, go, and trust God’s healing power.

Will you?

Challenge: Who in your life is hurting, sick, or dying? How can you bring life, hope and healing as a representative of Jesus?