When He Commands, He Enables

"All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."  

Acts 2:4

My study on the book of Acts triggered me to think deeply about Jesus' command for His disciples to be His witness.

Before His glorious ascension to heaven, Jesus told His disciples not to leave Jerusalem (meaning, not to start doing the works that He has commanded them to do) but to wait for the Holy Spirit to be given to them (Acts 1:4).

There was a reason for this. Immediately after Jesus' death, all the disciples were shaken, shocked and some disillusioned over what had happen to their leader. They were a disorganized band of men, not knowing what to do next. That was why Jesus appeared in His resurrected body and spent 40 days with them before glorifying Himself in heaven.

Jesus reminded them what their tasks were. The disciples needed power from on high to continue Christ's command for them to preach the good news to the unsaved.

The Lord assured them: "...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8.

And I learned that at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came in a mighty way to in-fill and in-dwell those who believe in Jesus. Power came upon them and they spoke boldly about Jesus. From then on, the Gospel has been preached throughout the world.

I learned that when God commands, He also enables. He never leaves us to use our frail human power to do what He wants me to. His power, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, is available for our use.

However, like most humans, many times I try to do it with my own strength and wisdom. I almost always end up tired,frustrated and even disillusioned. Why? Simply because I try to do what God asked me to do using my own strength.

How foolish that is?

All I needed was to rely on His power by calling on His Holy Spirit to give me strength and wisdom and He will supply. He never fails!

Moving on, I want to remind myself that Abba Father is my first resort, not last, whenever I have to do His work. 

When He commands, He enables!

God bless.

Steven