Begin with 2 minutes of stillness and silence before God.

We pick up today in verse 12, where we see the apostles returning to Jerusalem. They had just witnessed Jesus taken up into Heaven. What now? What do they do next? Where do we go from here? There are a couple of things in this passage that stand out to me.

• Obedience: If you look back at Acts 1:4, Jesus commands them, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about." So, back to verse 12. “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem.” Obedience.

The Bible doesn’t provide us insight into the conversations that took place between verses 11 and 12. But I must imagine that there is amazement and awe, and a holy sense of wonder being experienced. I can imagine that they wanted to run around telling everyone what they saw and begin dispersing and sharing what they had witnessed. I mean, wouldn’t you? But Jesus commanded them to go back to Jerusalem. And that is what they did. Obedience.

There is another part of that command that I notice as well.

• Wait: Wait, what? This seems to be a theme all throughout scripture.
  

Psalm 27:4, says, “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.”

Psalm 130:5, says, “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word, I put my hope.”

How do we wait well?

• Prayer: “They all joined together constantly in prayer.” v.14
  

This is a powerful line, with clear insight for us on how to wait well. Notice that it says “they.” Waiting is hard enough; it’s almost crushing to wait alone or in isolation. They joined together in prayer.

Why was their obedience important? Because they had not received the gift they had been promised yet, they had not received the power of the Holy Spirit. Why is that significant we ask? Well, we will take a look tomorrow as we read Acts 2.

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

• How can you practice waiting well this week?
• Prayer: Dear Lord, remind us that even in our waiting, You are moving and working in powerful ways. Thank you that because of Your Holy Spirit, we do not have to wait alone.  Lord, You do not ask us to know all the answers, rather You ask us to be obedient and trust You.  In Jesus' name, Amen.