…but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.
Acts 1:8
In challenging times like these, God wants the believer to rise up to the challenge of discipleship. But how can the believer live the life God intended with all the mounting pressures swirling around? Wherever you turn, there is temptation: temptation to judge, temptation to criticize, temptation to share misinformation and outright lies…you name it, it is there. I do not know about you, but quite often, I feel inadequate to live the Christian life. No matter how hard I try to be right, failure is a daily theme.
This sense of inadequacy takes me back to life as a child. There were many times when I felt intimidated by all the tasks I was supposed to learn. Fortunately, I had loving and patient parents who did not expect me to have it all figured out, in fact they expected me to struggle. Secondly, they were willing to help me master each skill along the road to adulthood. Now I am an independent adult because they helped me become the person I am today. But even in these mature years, I still feel intimidated from time to time with new tasks and new responsibilities. In these times, I call upon lessons I learned in the past to keep me moving forward.
In Acts 1, Jesus gave the disciples the responsibility of carrying the gospel to the entire world. This was intimidating. How were they going to do it? Certainly not in their own strength. Fortunately for them, Jesus understood that on their own, they would struggle. Secondly, he was willing to help them by sending them a helper. Jesus told them to “wait for the gift the Father promised… (Acts 1:4)” Likewise, Jesus knows we will struggle. He knows we cannot do the Christian life in our own strength. Like the disciples we must wait for the Holy Spirit’s power before we can live the life Jesus wills for us; and we must wait for the Holy Spirit before we can accomplish God’s purposes for our lives. Do you feel inadequate today? Good! You are exactly where God wants you to be, and better yet, you are not alone. If we care to admit, we are all in this together.
God Almighty, in the words of Richard Eugene Blanchard Snr, I cry, “Fill my cup, Lord; I lift it up Lord; Come and quench this thirsting of my soul. Bread of Heaven feed me till I want no more. Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.” Holy Spirit, you are welcome here. Take over my life, and lead me. Amen.