When??

3/14/2012

Acts 1:6- “So when they met together they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’”

Interpretation: The people of God have been asking this question of Him since the moment the promise was given. Why do we always want to know what God is doing behind the scenes? And, if we did know, would it even help us to be more patient with Him? We always seem to want answers, but sometimes we’re even unhappy there. They were desperate for Israel to be restored. And I could not even imagine the excitement and mind-blowing and incomprehensible feelings they must have had as they traveled around with Jesus, the messiah, God himself in human flesh. They watched his resurrected body travel around town and now, finally, or so it seemed, Jesus was going back to the one who sent Him, and was coming back the same way he left, in the sky in a cloud of glory. Is it going to be in a few days Lord? Is it at that time you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel? Of course we know the answer is no, but they must have been thrilled. I remember before coming to Potter’s Field I was planning on going to the program in July. I was looking for a black and white answer, a yes or a no in scripture, or someone to tell me exactly what I needed to hear. When it came to be crunch time I decided to pray for God’s will, instead of an answer. And here I am. So God, you’re going to bring me that money I need in a few days right? When I go home? It’s like we can’t see how God is going to accomplish something so we just fill in the blank. And our attempts of trying to figure out how or when or why God is going to do something always fall short, if not backspin in the opposite direction. Something Pastor Don said when we were going through Philippians 4 was on the peace that surpasses all understanding. He said that we try to find peace by reasoning with our own minds. We try to create scenarios or conjure up thoughts that will supply our own peace for ourselves. God, you’re going to restore the kingdom to Israel…must be in a few days, right? But this would not be God’s peace. It would be the peace of man, not the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. We need to continually trust in God’s promises, while letting God be God in our lives.

Application: I’m going to do my 365 day devotion today to continue to stay in the word and focused on God’s promises.