An Incredible Turn of Events
Acts Chapter 1
Scripture= Acts chapter 1:3, 9
3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
Observations and Applications=
Did you ever have a day that you wished would never end? Have you ever been on a vacation that was so good that you didn’t want to go home?
Probably one of my favorite vacations was my honeymoon in Bermuda. The water was so clear it seemed that you could see forever. I was so much in love I couldn’t stand to be away from Jan for a minute. We would swim out to little outcrops of rocks and just lay in the sun for the whole day. Everything was taken care of and we were treated like kings and queens. The food and services at the hotel were first class and the island views were breathtaking! I didn’t want to ever come home and end our magical moment.
Something happened though that ended all the magic. Toward the end of our stay we overheard a couple talking to a desk clerk about how much money they owed in extra charges. They were shocked to find out that they had to pay gratuities on everything that they had done during their entire stay at the resort. For every meal, for every service (even the room maid), for renting snorkel equipment or anything from the hotel and of course for every drink or any extra thing that they thought was a part of their room package. The cost added up to an unbelievable amount of money! Suddenly their great vacation was ruined. And suddenly so was ours!
We had been told that all our expenses were taken care of and that all the gratuities were inclusive. We were promised that we wouldn’t need a lot of money so we should leave it at home or we would just spend more. We had rented mopeds and were planning to buy some souvenirs and suddenly we realized that we also might have a lot of charges added onto our bill and we might actually run out of money. This was so frustrating because we had more money but we had chosen to leave it at home. We quickly turned our mopeds in early to receive a refund. Then we asked the desk clerk to please ring up our bill so we would know how much money we would need. We were surprised with the total cost and we barely had enough to cover our cost and leave the right amount of money in the country to fly home. Incredibly, the best vacation of my lifetime had almost become a great disaster. What an incredible turn of events!
Can you imagine how the disciples felt when Jesus left them and disappeared into the sky? What an emotional rollercoaster they must have been on? First you think Jesus is about to be crowned king and then instead he is crucified. You can’t believe how distraught you feel about his death and suddenly you hear that he has been seen and is actually alive! You were actually ready to leave Jerusalem and go back home when you meet Jesus in the upper room. He really is alive and the joy you feel is unlike anything that you have ever felt before. You actually get to be with Jesus again, and in some ways this time with him is better than all the other times combined. Now after spending forty days with him suddenly he is gone! What an incredible turn of events!
Little did they know that in ten more days they would experience God like never before? I wonder what was going on in their minds as they waited in that upper room as Jesus had told them to do. What was coming would be for them their greatest incredible turn of events but I’m sure that like Jan and I returned from our honeymoon that they were filled with very mixed emotions. The fact that Jesus had gone away would allow the day of Pentecost to take place. God was about to turn their worlds upside down.
What is happening in your life right now that you can’t control? Are you in the middle of an incredible turn of events? Are they good events or are they troubling? Know that God sees your life from the beginning to the end. He is able to take whatever you are experiencing and make it an incredible turn of events. Jan and I look back at our honeymoon now and laugh. We realize that what happened could not diminish our time together. We have memories to last a lifetime.
Whatever God is doing in your life right now keep trusting him to finish what he has started. Phil 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
Prayer= Lord, Thank you for watching over my days. I am grateful for your awesome plan for my life. Help me to keep trusting you that you know what I need more than I know myself.
