Acts 1:4-8 - Focusing on His will
Scripture:
Acts 1:4-8
4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He said,"you heard of from Me;
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?"
7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."
NASU
Thoughts:
It must be funny (or discouraging!) to the Lord to see how our focus is so often not where He wants it to be. Even focusing on good things, but not where He wishes.
In this passage, Jesus wants the disciples to wait for the empowerment of the Spirit (verse 4-5), however the disciples want Jesus to set up an earthly kingdom (verse 6). We see this often in the disciples. The Lord tells them plainly what is going to happen or where they should be focused, but they don't get it.
We read these passages and think to ourselves how ridiculous of the disciples! However, we often find ourselves doing the same thing. Through an answered prayer, our devotional time, or in some other way, the Lord has made clear what direction we should take, and where our focus should be, but we're concerned about something else!
Prayer:
Lord, forgive me for fixating on my own concerns, and ignoring the things You want me to focus on. Like the disciples, I need to lay aside my own ambitions. I need to listen to the voice of my Master, following Your direction.
Looking back through my life, I can see how allowing myself to worry or fixate on something You're not directing me toward, only results in increased hardship for me. You will take care of each situation, in Your timing.
Calm my restless heart. Let me trust You, today.
Amen
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