Monday of the Second Week of Easter
Acts 4:23-31
They begin not with fear.
Not with the problem.
But with God.
“Sovereign Lord… Creator of everything.”
Before they speak of threats, they remember who holds the world.
Then— they turn to Scripture.
Psalm 2
They read their situation through it.
Not as something old. Not as something distant.
But as something alive.
Inspired by the Spirit. Spoken through David.
“Why do the nations rage… against your anointed?”
How could David know who the anointed would be?
But the first Christians knew.
They had seen Jesus— God’s Messiah—crucified.
And suddenly—
Herod. Pontius Pilate. The nations. Their own people—
all made sense.
So they say:
This is it. This is what was spoken.
But they go further.
“Everything they did— Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel— your hand had planned.”
Even resistance. Even rejection. Even the cross.
Not outside God. Not beyond His reach.
Now comes the request.
Safety? Protection? An easier road?
No.
“Give us boldness.”
“Stretch out your hand.”
“Act—through the name of Jesus.”
And something happens.
The place shakes.
They are filled with the Holy Spirit.
And they speak—
with boldness.
This is their prayer.
Should it not be ours?
We also live under pressure.
“Sovereign Lord, Creator of everything—
Most of our brothers and sisters live in poverty, victims of an economy that kills.
Your messianic people are under threat in many places of the world.”
And then—
what shall we ask?
“Take this away?” “Make it easier?” “Change the situation?”
The first Christians pray differently.
They stand in the same world—
and say:
God is still God.
This has already been spoken.
Even this is not outside His story.
So—
not:
“Remove the struggle.”
But:
Give us courage.
Let Your word pass through us.
Act here.
And maybe—
the place will shake again.
Like Azusa Street Revival. Like Second Vatican Council. Like Asbury Revival.
Fear will loosen.
Clarity will come.
And we will speak the word of God—
that heals, that gives life—
with boldness.
Scripture Attribution
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993
the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of
Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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