April 28

Empowered for Today

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord,  are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses” (Acts 1:6-8).

Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20; Acts 1:6-8

Song: “Pentecostal Power”

The engagement party had ended, but my emotional meltdown had just begun. Another friend on her way to marriage while I was on my way to nowhere it seemed. As the tears fell, a question formed in my heart: “Lord, will I be married one day, or single forever?” Rather than give an answer, God redirected my focus. “Today you are single, so today you are to be about My business.” The apostles were not grappling with singleness, but they did have unfulfilled expectations. They longed to know what Jesus would do about the restoration of the kingdom, but Jesus called their attention to what they would do through the power of the

Holy Spirit.

God wants to shift our focus from future events that are beyond our knowledge and control to our present reality as His witnesses in the earth. When we embrace the empowerment we’ve been given for today, we can abandon our anxiety about tomorrow. It is not for us to know times and dates, but it is for us to be Spirit filled witnesses of Jesus.

Father, I rejoice because the future is in Your hands, but the Holy Spirit is in my heart bringing empowerment for kingdom work. In Jesus’ name, amen.