After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. (Acts 1:9, NIV)
Some courses train you to play certain unusual shots, shots that present themselves only occasionally in a round and often not at all.
I grew up playing a course with two blind greens. And while these are still not comfortable anywhere you play, at least I became conditioned for the mystery of not knowing exactly where your ball has come to rest. In fact, a number of years past I had a hole-in-one on a redan, where the front of the green falls down to the left and the back. My tee shot was heading in the direction of the cup, but when it disappeared, we could not be sure from 180 yards away whether the ball had gone in or had simply fallen out of sight. We had to wait until we got to the green to get the answer. That may have been the most satisfying wait I’ve ever known!
Many people today wait for Jesus. They anticipate his return. I won’t say all Christians do this. Several years ago, a woman at a conference where I was teaching asked me point-blank, “Do you believe Jesus is coming back?”
“I do,” I told her.
“Many Christians I know don’t believe this,” she said.
I maintain the belief of this woman. But honestly, I also understand the unbelief of her friends. It has been a long time since that day when Jesus ascended into heaven and the disciples were left staring at a cloud. “A dream deferred,” suggested poet Langston Hughes, can dry up “like a raisin in the sun.” Jesus’ return has been long deferred. Some, while not giving up all hope in Jesus, have given up hope for his return.
I find the final words in today’s passage informative: “a cloud hid him from their sight.” In a way this left the disciples—and us—with two options. They could fix their eyes on the cloud and see nothing. Or they could believe, in faith, that Jesus reigns wherever he is. Babies, of course, would go to tears. Failing to understand object permanence, wee ones cry when their mommy hides her face in a game of peek-a-boo.
Are we more mature in faith than this? “We walk by faith, not by sight”, Paul told the Corinthians. At least we are supposed to. Too often, we stare at clouds and wonder where Jesus is. We “see though a glass dimly” and wonder if our Savior is there.
May I just say: Yes, he is there. Yes, he is coming. I know this not because I am fuller of faith than you. I know this only because I believe the Word is God’s—both the Word who is Christ and the Word that is written for our instruction. Two things, God himself and God’s strong oath, confirm that life here and life eternal are ours in Jesus: “This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:19-20, NLT).
There is Jesus—see him in, see him as God’s Word!—making intercession for us. All our hope is in him.
—
Jeff Hopper
July 16, 2014
Copyright 2014 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.