Life has many changes that require our flexibility and adjustment. Adolescence, marriage, sickness and death are among the more obvious and demanding circumstances that force themselves upon the sons of man. These are not matters of our own arrangement. They are imposed without distinction upon the rich and the poor, the wise and the fool, the righteous and the unrighteous. Apparently uncontrolled they form part of the pattern of life that men have come to expect.
Even in the lives of believers, these matters present themselves to test and develop the characters of the sons of God. And although there are many expected changes in life that we cannot possibly control or avoid, and although we may completely recognize the inevitability of these events, it takes courage and patience and time to adapt ourselves to the various phases of life. Which of us has not been acquainted with the prolonged sickness of a friend that finally leads to death only to wonder and question the long expected outcome?
How much more then do we need to be flexible and discerning to the unexpected changes that make their way into our lives. Trials and disappointments that we are given no time to prepare for, troubles and problems that allow no time for contemplation or research; it is these things that lay bare the extent of our confidence and trust in God. Such was the case when Jesus departed into heaven and left a bewildered and disappointed band of disciples questioning the value of three years allegiance to one who claimed to be the promised Messiah. Had all been lost? Had their love and trust been misplaced? Were they finally to be exposed as the fools and traitors their enemies had claimed? Time would be required to see the outcome.
But not much time! For these disciples were men of courage and faith. “We know what we worship” and although there was keen disappointment at their “King” vanishing indefinitely from sight, their confidence and zeal must now be reinforced and directed in a way far different from what they expected at the beginning of their service. None had realized the extent of the Kingdom that was at the center of their hope. Not one had any notion of the amount of work that must proceed the “restoration of the Kingdom of Israel.” Their vision had been short and limited suited to their immediate hopes and desires. Their worship and service were genuine but their education and understanding incomplete.
The Acts of the Apostles shows the adjustment they made. The history that follows shows the determination and appreciation they had for the work of their Lord and their eagerness to get to the job at hand. The example shines for all who have lived after them. Every disciple has wished for the establishment of God’s Kingdom — especially in his own lifetime. But the lesson stands, that until the time that God sees fit to send His Son again, His servants must not live in disappointment or idleness. There is work to be done, active, engrossing, life filling work to represent God’s purpose in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, “for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One