Acts 1-3

God is living and active, working through you and me.

If there is one thing that Acts is showing me is, it's that Christ's work did not end on the cross. While the early Christians may have been expecting for Christ to make his triumphant return during their lifetimes, they definitely did not sit around lazily waiting for it to happen. They let God use them and turned to Him for help and direction. One of the first stories is when the 11 apostles (12 minus Judas) have to find a replacement for Judas. They could have just picked their favorite, the one with the most experience, or put it to a vote. Instead the Luke tells us that, "they prayed and said, 'You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place'" (Acts 1:24-25).

The apostles could have reasoned that since they were the ones sent out by Christ, the ones who witnessed his transfiguration and resurrection, that they were able to decide for themselves who their new companion would be. I mean, these weren't no bums. They walked and talked with God. Certainly they could have thought to themselves that they should be able to decide who the 12th apostle would be.

But they didn't. They turned to the Lord and prayed. They admitted that this decision was the Lord's, not their own, "show which one of these two YOU have chosen". Could the apostles just have chosen one of their friends and called it a day? No one would have questioned their authority I suspect. But they didn't do that. Instead they fully relied on God, and asked Him to show them who would take the place of Judas.

Why don't I do this. Instead of searching out God's wisdom I rely on my own - which isn't very much. Instead of recognizing that God probably has a plan for me, I worry about what will happen. I get nervous and fail to trust my Creator. Jesus did not stop working after his time on the cross. No, He came back from the dead to live so that we could also live with Him. He has a plan and a will for our lives. So that we don't have to worry, so that we don't have stay awake at night wondering what will happen. So that we don't have to second-guess ourselves. So that we don't have to cry our regrets away. God is living and active, he loves me (and you) and wants us to call on him in every circumstance.

A breaking point for me came while I was trying to decide what to do after I graduated college. I thought and thought about what to do. More school? Get a full time job? Both? Where to go to school? What if I make the wrong decision? What if I fail God? What kind of question is that? This decision consumed my life. Every once in a while I prayed about this decision, but I did not rely on God and trust that He would guide me and sustain me. That's a big difference.

The thing is we can't fail God if we seek discernment from Him and rely on His ways. We might not always be perfect and do exactly what He wants, but knowing that he will bring us back to Him and work out His perfect plan for us will be infinitely better than relying on our worries or intellect.

Thank you heavenly Father for your Son Jesus. Thank you Jesus for the cross, and for getting out of that grave and living for us. Show me the way you want me to live. I ask that you would have me rely fully on you instead of on my sinful way of thinking. And thank you for your Word and for teaching us about how much you love us. amen