Operation Renavigation
June 23, 2009“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; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “it is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 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.” -Acts 1:4-8
Jesus is speaking to the apostles and He’s informing them of some awesome things that are about to occur in their lives with the help of the Holy Spirit. The conversation is clearly going in 1 direction.. the destination seems pretty concrete.. and they’re literally receiving step-by-step guidance in how to go about the situation.. how can this conversation go wrong?? HA! Have no fear.. humans are here.. insert verse 6 – “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Are they serious folks?? I think they sure are! If I was there among the apostles, I may not have been one to vocalize what they said.. but I certainly would’ve thought it along with them. Look at their one-track mind – Israel’s restoration. Jesus is trying to discuss with them the “Greater Commission,” yet their heart and mind is on the knowledge of the things of the world. How many of us just sank in our chairs at the present moment realizing we do the exact same thing??
Throughout this whole conversation I think it’s amazing to see how the Lord never detours in thought or speech. He gives them a slight rebuke in verse 7, but He goes right back to what He was originally saying to them.. informing them of the Holy Spirit and what they are to do. As humans it’s easy to become distracted by the things of the world and pull our hair out trying to figure out His appointed time for various seasons in our lives. Jesus says it so perfectly, “it is not for you to know times or epochs [events marked by time] which the Father has fixed by His own authority.” Did you catch that friends?? Who’s authority has all of this occurred under?? That’s right. God’s. His role is to be Sovereign over our lives and to ordain times and events to occur. What is our role?? Ha.. to stay out of His role and to refrain from interfering, instead, we are to walk out the Greater Commission.
I love this passage in Acts because it’s a constant reminder of my humanity and His Sovereignty. I’m so thankful that He is the One directing our conversations, because I am so A.D.D. and have the most ridiculous amount of “detour topics”, and without Him renavigating our conversation, I’d continue to spiral in the wrong direction. Jesus, thank-You for crossing every t and dotting every i. You are fascinated in every little detail of my life.. nothing goes untouched, and I love You all the more for it.
God, help us to renavigate our hearts and minds to Your calling for us. We are not Home yet, although many of us live as though we are. Shine light in the darkness of our ignorances and apathy and remove all our preconceived notions of the Greater Commission. Allow us to live life with a greater understanding of Your Word and to not take lightly the Cross You’ve asked us to carry. Thanks for choosing to converse with us even in our foolishness and one-track minds. Who are we that You are even mindful of us?? *smiles*
