Followers of Jesus love His promise of empowerment. Facing overwhelming odds with underwhelming strength, we cling to the lifeline of God’s promised power: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8). We are well versed with the purpose of power-bearing witness to the glory of God among every ethno-linguistic people. We are not so well acquainted with the preposition on the front end of the sentence: But. But what? “It is not for you to know the times and the seasons BUT it is for you to receive power to be my witnesses” (vv. 7-8, emphasis added). We are not to know–we are to receive power.
We are prone to preoccupation with knowing. We want to know what season we are in. We want to know how our ministry is being received. We want to know that we are significant. We want to know that our labor matters. We want to know that we are filled with the Holy Spirit. We want to know that we are bearing fruit. We want to know what God is doing. We want to know when God will fulfill His promises and complete all things. There are many good things to know, and Jesus gently reminds us that the point is not our knowing but our empowering. Jesus asks us to lay aside our hunger for knowing and to concentrate on receiving power and disseminating witness. It is for Jesus to do the knowing; it is for us to do the obeying.
First John 3:19-20 tells us that a great God who assures our hearts takes care of the knowing: “By this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him, for if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” It is not for us to know what God is doing, when He does it, how and why. Any insight there is a bonus. God knows all things and that is enough for us. Our role is not to be the knower, our role is to be the obeyer, the believer, and the lover (vv. 22-23). When we obey, believe, and love, our hearts are aligned with God and He grabs us and keeps us in His purposes. We find our fulfillment in empowered obedience, not in unlimited understanding.
In God’s great wisdom it is often better for us not to know what season we are in and what fruit we bear. This is not mean or controlling on the part of the Omniscient; this is love and grace. Knowledge is often more pain than power. As we allow God to bear the burden of knowledge, we can bear His glory to where it has not yet been (Zech. 6:13). Our goal is not sowing, it is not reaping, it is not fruit. Our goal is obedience. God’s goal is harvested fruit. He knows how our obedience will contribute to His fruitful harvest. That is enough for Him and it needs to be enough for us. We need to embrace the gift of not knowing.
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Dick Brogden ( - )
I was born in rural East Africa, just north of Lake Victoria. My dad and mom are my heroes (still missionaries on the field, they went out in 1966) and taught me to love Jesus and love his passions in the earth. I married my best friend, Jennifer, and she is stronger and wiser than anyone will ever know. I have two joys in life—my sons, Luke and Zack. Together we have treasured Jesus among Muslims since 1992, first in Mauritania, then Kenya, then Sudan for the past 15 years. The next treasure stop is Cairo, Egypt.Jennifer and I love to pioneer, we love working among unreached Muslim people, we love taking the gospel where it has not yet gone. The picture Jenn has had for our lives is that of a team on an obstacle course. We run to the wall first and get down on our hands and knees so others can spring over the wall. We do believe the great opportunity of our age is to engage the world of Islam with our magnificent, divine Jesus. We do consider the Arab world to be the heart of Islam. As Jesus is enthroned in the Arab world, we will be that much closer to every tribe, tongue, and people in worship, that much closer to Jesus coming back to take us all home. Whatever that costs us, Jesus is worth it.