Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Acts 1 before reading the devotional below.
Today we begin our series through the book of Acts. The author, Luke, wrote both the book of Luke and Acts, with the end of the book of Luke and the beginning of Acts both containing the story of Jesus’ return to heaven. We continue on to find out what happened to the disciples after Jesus left them to begin the church.
Jesus’ first instruction for their task of spreading the good news of his resurrection is to go hang out in a room and do nothing. As a driven, type-A person, I really do dislike how often the Bible encourages waiting. And yet here we sit with the disciples, waiting in a room in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit.
In the meantime, they are working to come to terms with the complete betrayal of Jesus on the part of Judas, who has since committed suicide. It’s an ugly and gruesome start, that’s for sure. So they’re down one person, and they have to find a replacement on the team. “When in doubt, flip a coin” is the lesson at the end of this chapter. Yes, that’s right, the early church was founded on a divinely ordained coin toss.
You know you’ve been called to giant mission and have no idea what to do first? Just wait in a room with a bunch of people who are going to do it with you and let the Holy Spirit show up when he’s ready. Not sure how to decide between two great options? Pray and flip that coin. There is so little God actually wants us to wrack our brains to try to figure out. He’s leading you, one step at a time. Most likely it’s a lot slower than you’d expect. When you have eternity in mind, time isn’t really of the essence.