What does Acts 14:9 mean?

In Lystra, Paul and Barnabas are spreading the good news: that Jesus of Nazareth offers salvation and reconciliation with God. In the listening crowd is a man who has been crippled from birth. Paul sees that the man has faith in Jesus, sufficient to be healed by God. In a sense, the man is not healed when Paul commands him to stand (Acts 14:10), rather Paul's command merely tells the man to demonstrate what God had just done in that moment.

The New Testament relationship between personal faith and miraculous power can be confusing. Jesus healed two blind men after affirming they had faith that He was the Son of David (Matthew 9:27–30), but in Nazareth, He chose to do few miracles because of their lack of faith (Mark 6:5–6). When faced with a father willing to let Jesus help with his lack of faith, Jesus healed the man's son (Mark 9:22–27).

Earlier, in Iconium, while Paul and Barnabas preached, God "bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands" (Acts 14:3). It appears that the ability to perform miracles is not just a sign that the speaker's words are true, but a sign that the new believers have placed their faith correctly (Luke 5:20). Today, with the Word of God affirmed over the last 2000 years, it is no small thing to realize the miracle of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit Who comes when we place our faith in Jesus.