6 As a result, those who had gathered together asked Jesus, “Lord, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now?”
7 Jesus replied, “It isn’t for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 Rather, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Reflection
Hi Jesus, it’s me. Could I take a quick glance at the itinerary for the week?
I’m a planner, like, to the extreme I am a planner. It took me what feels like FOREVER to find a physical planner that worked like my brain did. And if you were to flip through that planner, you’d see an array of colors distinguishing between work and social and chores and exercise. Even my driving is accounted for! Beyond that, I have notepads upon notepads of organized lists, all categorized for the genre of task it is planning out. I think I knew I went over the deep end when I began working on a list for my lists.
In many ways, this is an asset (or at least that’s what I tell myself!). When I wake up in the morning (at my regularly scheduled time), I flip open my planner and have a beautifully laid out itinerary for my day. Yes, details change or things come up – but I kind of even plan for that! It is one less thing to worry my brain about because I have a pretty good idea as to what my day is going to look like. Not just my day, but my week, my month, the rest of 2021!
What’s the downside to this though? Things that don’t have a clear-cut plan, or at least not one I have eyes on, drive me nuts! If I could just sneak a quick peak at what you have planned, God, I’d chill out! Jesus’ followers had been through a lot, and all they want is a little bit of insight into what the plan is. Jesus doesn’t budge though:
“It isn’t for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 Rather, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Great. Thanks. That was very helpful. But that almost is a defining characteristic of the Holy Spirit, isn’t it? Spontaneous. Unexpected. Life-altering. It takes all of our plans, and turns them to ash. My planner can remain it’s meticulous collection of events, but the Holy Spirit is going to do what the Holy Spirit does, and I just have to have faith in what God has in store.
By Rachel Callender
For Pondering & Prayer
Are you a planner or more of a go-with-the-flow kind of person? When you read today’s text, what kind of emotion pops up for you? Do you get anxious that Jesus says that this information “isn’t for you to know” or do you feel relief that it is not your responsibility to know? What is the Spirit’s role in that?
Prayer: Mysterious God, may we trust in your Holy Spirit as the source to guide us when we don’t know what’s next. Amen.
Comments are closed.