Obedience

The very last thing that Jesus told his disciples in Luke was to “stay in the city until you are given power from heaven.”  At the beginning of Acts, Luke reminds us that this was Jesus instruction to the disciples.  We see that the disciples are obedient to the directions given by the Lord.  They are gathering together in the upper room.  In fact, we are told that not only are they gathered together, but they were also all meeting in the same place.  I love this little picture of obedience!  They knew that the one thing that Jesus asked of them was that they remain in Jerusalem.  Jesus said, “Don’t go anywhere until you receive power from the Holy Spirit.”  Looking back, from our perspective, it seems like an easy task, but to them this may not have been easy.  After all, they had no idea HOW long they would have to stay in Jerusalem they only knew that he said to stay put and wait.  However, how many of us like to wait even an hour at the doctor’s office?  Now imagine if you had to wait not just one hour but seven days.  Often before we can be effective for God in any other area, we must be obedient in the small things like waiting.  The other thing to know is that while they were waiting, they were not just sitting around.  No, they were praying (communicating with God), meditating and studying the scriptures (that would be the Old Testament). Most of us reading this, desire to do great things for God.  God says, “If you want to do great things for me, first, be obedient in the one or two things that I’ve asked you to do, THEN I can trust you with great things.  I want you to think of the great things you want to do; then think of the areas where God has already given you instruction.  Focus on obedience in those areas, for obedience in the little things is the first step in being greatly used by God.