Looking at the Sky

In the Book of Acts we find this account:

When they had gathered together they asked him,"Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"He answered them, "It is not for you to know the times or seasonsthat the Father has established by his own authority.But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,throughout Judea and Samaria,and to the ends of the earth."When he had said this, as they were looking on,he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going,suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.They said, "Men of Galilee,why are you standing there looking at the sky?This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heavenwill return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven." 

How often I am like these apostles.  I go to God with some question or a request.  Something that I want, something that I think will satisfy me, in the time frame I want it to play out in.   Seeing a trend?

I. I.... oh and another I.

Being a recent college grad (still getting use to saying that), I have been asking God for a lot of things especially with the many changes.  One request I have been asking for is to find a job in my field, in a setting that will make me an awesome nurse.

Jesus' answer to His apostles is an interesting one, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons".  I don't know about you, but for me, I want to know the time! I want to know the season! Many times I find myself in prayer saying "Lord, just tell me when, so I can be at peace".   My heart begins to flutter like a little child anticipating the parent's answer to be permitted to eat ice cream as a nighttime treat.  But why does waiting causing me to have anxiety?

So often we get this master plan in our minds of what life will be like and by doing so we ignore the Master's plan that HE has for our lives.   I thought that I would have had a job right after graduation especially going to such a highly esteemed nursing program.  (Humility pill, check) This however, was my plan.  I must learn to adapt to His loving intended road map.  The ways in which our Lord asks each of us to trust him and to be patient are different and change at each moment, each decision, and each interaction.  Some moments, it is me being patient with not having a job, trusting that He has the perfect position waiting somewhere.  At other times, it is trusting that a decision to decline a beautiful thing is what will aid you to grow in virtues like patience and charity.  It is sometimes in those moments were you are trusting that God will give you the patient, kind, and loving words in an tough interaction you must have with a friend.

After Jesus finished speaking to the disciples, a cloud took Him from their sight and the men were left there looking into the sky.

Many time we try to tune into what God is trying to tell us by standing and looking into the sky.  There are moments when we are so caught off guard that our plan and God's plan aren't matching up, that we are left standing there gazing into the sky, dumbfounded.  But what are we really looking at?
                        NOTHING.
By just standing looking into the sky, are we doing His will?  Yes, there are moments that we are asked to be still and know that He is God, and this is so important.  But we need to stop looking up and look within.  Look to the gift God has bestowed in us and around us, the Gift of the Holy Spirit, of Himself.

He never leaves us.  In our times of trail, in questioning, in doubt and fear, in our anxieties, He is sitting beside us.  If only we allow ourselves to be loved by Him, to be stoked by the already burning Holy Spirit in our souls.

So I challenge you ----- Stop looking at the sky, and start looking around.  Find God in the simple things.  Like in a beautiful flower or even better, in another person's beautiful soul. Trust in the Patient Heart of God that wherever He has you at this moment, is where He wants you.  Just let Him use YOU!

Patience of the Heart of Jesus, grow not wear of my heart.