“On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” John 20:1-9
After Jesus’s resurrection two men came to the tomb. John stood outside and just looked in and ‘saw’ what what had happened. He stayed outside. He didn’t engage, pursue, initiate. He stayed where it was safe. Peter, on the other hand, entered in. He pressed in, evaluated, was bold. By doing that, it changed something in John. John, who actually arrived at the tomb first, now felt safe to enter in himself and the Word says it was then that he believed.
Our obedience in stepping out in faith brings healing and activates faith in other people.
Peter and John believed, but they still did not understand even though Scripture said it would happen. There have been times in my life where I have stepped out in faith because I believed what the Lord said even though I didn’t understand how it was going to happen and God was faithful. God is a god of His Word. If He said it will happen, it will happen. Our responsibility is to step out in obedience and go after what He’s spoken to us and then trust Him with the results. It will always be far more than all we can ask or imagine.