Pentecost - from “Why?” to “Why not?”

One of the greatest inhibitors to personal and church growth is the FUD factor (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt).

After the horror of Christ’s crucifixion, the incredulity then ecstasy of His resurrection and His times of sharing with His disciples, Jesus ascended to heaven. What did the disciples feel then? I’m sure they must have felt very “flat” after their mountain-top experiences, and probably uncertainty and doubts crept in - “What do we do now?”, “Why has He left us like this?”. In many ways, these phases in the birth of The Church mirror the phases in the birth and growth of our children. The teenage years are times of much questioning, of moving out from under the sheltering presence of parents, to discover one’s directions and goals in the ‘real’ world - these are the “Why?” years.

Then the young adult blossoms, the world is at their feet and they are prepared to take on anything, with courage and determination. Just as parents must hold back in order to release their children into adulthood, so Jesus had to withdraw from the church via His ascension to give His disciples time to think over all that had happened and been said over the preceding 3 years. Then in the fullness of time (how often do we read that phrase in the bible?), Holy Spirit sparks off the blossoming of the greatest revolution in history. Following in the steps of the resurrection of the Son of Man, this was the “resurrection of religion”.  From small huddles of prayer groups asking “Why?”, this band of non-descript Galileans suddenly recognises and grasps the power of faith in their omnipotent God, and says “Why not?”.  And the rest of history has been changed for eternity.

Lord, I take a stand against satan’s darts of doubt.  Fill me with the spirit of “Why not?” that I might join you on the road to maturity and victory over ‘the world’.