So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”
Acts 1:6, NLT*
The resurrected Jesus had been appearing to the disciples, proving He was alive, and continuing to speak of the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3).
The disciples were still looking for the restoration of their kingdom: for the nation of Israel to be powerful again as it had been in the past.
God had much bigger – and longer-term – plans.
What are we asking Him for that’s too small, even if it seems huge to us? What are we asking for that’s a return to what was, instead of an expansion to what He promises?
As we pray and listen to God, as He reveals glimpses of His purposes, let’s resist the tendency to fit them into our own understanding and experience. Into the framework of the past.
Holy and omnipotent God, Your ways and plans are much bigger than we can grasp. We praise You for what You will do, and for how You will reveal Your glory. In this as in the rest of our lives, help us to trust You wholeheartedly and not to cling to our own understanding. Lead, guide and direct us, and make us useful for Your Kingdom.
∞
Our song this week is Matt Maher’s “A Future Not My Own”
*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Exactly, Janet! The Lord Jesus gave everything to give us the John 10:10 more abundant life. It’s ours for the taking. What a privilege!
We need that abundant life, and it so easy to settle for less…