Today in our reading from the One Year Bible, which comes from Acts 1:1-26, we see Jesus's disciples utterly missing the point. They ask Him, "NOW are you going to free Israel and restore our kingdom?" Even after spending three years with Him, listening to Him teach every day, and seeing Him die and rise from the dead, they still didn't understand what He came to do. They still thought He was going to be a political Messiah, overthrowing Rome and restoring Israel as a world superpower.
Now, they were right in that Rome WAS eventually overthrown, and Israel DID eventually have their own country again. But these things happened so long after their lifetimes that they would have given up all hope if Jesus had said, "This won't happen for a few hundred years. Hang in there."
They didn't get that His plans were so much bigger than theirs that it literally meant changing the whole world. They just couldn't fathom what He wanted to do with them - through them - and in them.
And before we start looking down our noses at them in the 20/20 of hindsight, we do the exact same thing. We pray, "God, NOW are you going to give me that nice house? That car I've wanted? That big raise at work? NOW are you going to heal me of this pain I've been putting up with?" When what God wants to do with you - through you - and in you is so much bigger than that. He wants to change the world.
Let's trust Him to know what is needed in our lives, and in the world around us. Let's participate in the work that He's already doing. Let's ask Him to use the short time we have in this life to bring His kingdom to earth, as it is in Heaven. Let's learn from the mistakes the disciples made - and learn to think bigger than our paltry little dreams.
God, thanks for having bigger plans. Help us to take part in them.
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