Is there any greater display of power than the power it takes to raise the dead to life? For the earliest believers, it had to be a jolt just to be close to the power displayed in Jesus.
That mighty "lightning bolt" has been seen and heard through the centuries and can be seen and heard still in the lives of Jesus-followers today.
That's good news; especially if you're in need of a jolt of God's power today.
When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Acts 1:9-11
How long do you think the disciples, left on their own, would have kept looking at the clouds? An hour? A day? A week?
After three years with Jesus, I can understand why they lingered. When my parents visit, I sometimes stand in the driveway after they drive out of sight, thinking perhaps if I hang around they’ll reappear. I can only imagine how much the disciples must have hoped that Jesus would return.
Of course, Jesus will return as he has promised, but no one knows the day or hour. We should look forward to this return, but not necessarily look for it. Instead, we need to get busy! Some people today seem to spend their days looking toward the heavens waiting for Jesus, at least figuratively, if not actually gazing at the clouds. Instead, Jesus has left us work to do. Get busy! The message of faith, hope, and love is for all nations. Jesus will indeed come again, which gives us reason not to look upward, but to look outward.
Joshua Hays
Jesus, you are a God of surprises, and one of the biggest of them all will be when you return. Help me to be ready, not by waiting on the rooftop, but by going out of my comfort zone, extending grace and serving the people that you love so deeply. Amen.
Feel the power that rises beneath you,
Raising you up to embrace the life
That God intends for you to know.
Carry yourself, then, with humble confidence,
Aware that it is the very hand of God
That holds you upright and alive.