What Are You Reading? Forty Days

hello and good morning and happy monday morning to you we are actually going to go ahead and just jump right in um to this what are you reading you know we are um discussing things that has turned out being a lot of what i have been reading and just what god has been showing me and this kind of came through a bible study that i am currently doing and hopefully we'll be teaching this fall but it's called the gospel on the ground and it's focusing really on the book of acts and that is so neat because it ties up directly to right after christ has been resurrected and the the birth of the church and so there was this kind of a phrase or just really a concept that really captured my attention this week and so i'm going to go ahead and read from acts 1 verses 1 through 3 and maybe you can kind of pick out in your own mind as you're listening or watching of what it is that grabbed my attention. So it says, in my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days and spoke about the kingdom of God. And I don't know if you're like me. There's a part of me that's Like, can we know everything he said during those 40 days? And that phrase of the 40 days, imagine that you watched Jesus be crucified and you're living in this state of doubt and fear and just wondering what all is going on. And you can't remember because you don't have the Holy Spirit about everything Jesus said. You're probably trying to grasp onto the things he said and how can this have possibly happened? You know, such loss. They finally felt whole with him and now you feel lost. and um and then all of a sudden christ is resurrected right and then for 40 days he provides convincing proof this is something that's in this study that you know can you imagine that for 40 days he gives convincing proof that he has been resurrected um and that just is so amazing and at the same time when we think about the 40 days um there were some 40 days that i didn't think about you know i immediately thought of noah you know in the ark and we've got 40 days there made me think of moses you know the 40 days that he spent with the lord on the mountain which i'm also reading right now and then jesus spends 40 days there and now we have the disciples but there's also even David, which I forgot. And in this study, it says Goliath taunted the Israelites in the Elah Valley for 40 days before David came and took care of business, right? And so all of these, it made me think that there's almost in the sense in the Bible, there's this sense of kind of commissioning as it is with the 40 days. There's like a, there's a sense of commissioning or a time of trial or a time of learning before then being commissioned to be sent out to do something new, right? Noah's on the boat. It rains for 40 days. Then they've got a job to do after that. Moses, 40 days on the mountain. He's got a job leading the nation after that. Jesus, 40 days in the desert, and then he enters into his ministry. And you've got the disciples here with Jesus for 40 days and David as well. You know, there's the 40 days, and then David, you know, he steps into a new role with Saul. And so this 40 days aspect, and I started, when I first noticed this, it was before Easter, and I counted out 40 days, and I can't tell you how many times. And we're kind of crossing the bridge here into application, and it's not exactly what this is saying, but I just want you to think about the process of 40 days and how long 40 days actually is. You know, we tend to sometimes, we pray for things and we want an immediate answer right away. So perhaps you're in a season of waiting or you're in a season of trial. And I'm not saying I'm not being like prophetic or anything like that where, you know, if you just count out 40 days that immediately when that 40th day hits, something new is going to happen. But instead, what I want to encourage you is to grasp the concept of how long 40 days is and how much can change in 40 days. And perhaps that the time and the trial that you're in right now, it may go longer than 40 days, but perhaps it is a concept for you to grasp to then step forward into a new role. You know, it could be or even not even a new role, but that something is about to pivot in life, that something is about to change, that there's a tipping point. And I think that when you're in a season of perhaps you're, you know, a loved one is ill and you're taking care of them, perhaps you're in a season of grief or finances are struggling right now, or maybe you're in a really good season too. You could be in a really good season, but, or you're in a season of waiting. So much can change. I had a friend recently told me so much can change in 24 hours. Well, think about what can be done in 40 days. And it may not even be that your circumstances change, but in 40 days, your entire posture of your heart makes a pivot to rely on the Lord. And so that's my encouragement for today is to just spend time today thinking about what would it look like over the next 40 days? Maybe pick a date on the calendar. What would it look like if in the next 40 days I spend time with God and seeing what he can teach me in these 40 days that can help me to move forward, even if my situation doesn't change? So that's my encouragement. And, you know, right after this in verses four and five, it says Jesus commissions his disciples and he says, Um, on one occasion while he was eating with them, so this is maybe during the 40 days, he was eating with them and he gave this command, do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about for John baptized with water. But in a few days you'll be baptized with the Holy spirit. So there was a commissioning, a, Hey, something's about to change. So just wait and hold on, um, a little bit longer. And so I don't know what kind of season you're in. I don't know if you're in a season of waiting or you're just struggling, But just think that God is still working in the moments where 40 days seems like a really, really, really long time. And it seems like nothing's ever going to change. You never know what God's going to do. So just be encouraged in that. Look to see where God is actually teaching and training you. And perhaps there might be a pivot coming very soon. So anyways, that's my little tidbit for today. And I hope that you guys have a great rest of your day. Thanks. Thank you.

Originally published at warren.church.