From the archives of Oral Roberts
Many people expect God to do something for them someday. But their someday may not be until heaven! That’s not how the apostles of Jesus felt after they had been filled with the Holy Spirit and began to preach the Gospel. They expected God to act right then—in the NOW of their lives.
Peter didn’t say to the lame man by the Beautiful Gate, “Rise up and walk when you feel like it.” Peter took the man’s hand and lifted him up. Peter expected Jesus to heal him at that very moment (Acts 3:1-10).
When Peter faced the crowds that gathered on Solomon’s porch to hear the Gospel, he didn’t say, “Repent when you feel like it—if not today, maybe someday.” No! He said, “Repent now and be baptized” (Acts 3:11-19).
Now thinking was the thinking of the early believers. When they heard Peter and John tell about the authorities who had detained them, punished them for preaching about Jesus, and then released them, the early Christians prayed with boldness, saying, “Now, Lord” (Acts 4:23-31).
The believers were crying out to God, in essence saying, “Lord, we are in Your now; You are in our now, and we are looking for now action.”
What are your needs today? God is still in the now of those who believe Him. Pray as the early believers prayed, “And now Lord, behold the threat of the devil against me. Not tomorrow, Lord…now (Acts 4:29)!” There are times when we will have to wait for His answers, but His timing is divinely perfect. God is in the now of our lives.
