Waiting and Control

Being a product of the 80's (there is no better music, by the way), I remember a Janet Jackson song (stop laughing) about control.  Click here if you need a flashback.  It was very self-serving and individualistic.  It described the rugged individualism that was so evident at that time, and continues to be evident, keeping us from existing in community as God designed.  That is for another post, however.  One of the bridges in the song says:

Got my own mind

I wanna make my own decisions

When it has to do with my life, my life

I wanna be the one in control.

So what do Janet Jackson and Peter in Acts Chapter 1 have in common?  They both had control problems.  Being patient was also a problem for Peter.  I don't know much about Janet Jackson, but Peter was told to wait for the Holy Spirit(1:4-5).

I was interested in this whole "casting lots" idea mentioned in Acts 1:26.  In reading some, it looks as if this occurred most often in the Old Testament, in Joshua, dealing with the division of land, as the Israelites had been instructed to do on many occasions by God in the Book of Numbers(Numbers 26:55; 33:54; 34:13; 36:2)  There isn't a whole lot (no pun intended) about casting lots in the New Testament except for this instance in Acts and when the Roman Soldiers were casting lots for Jesus' garments at the cross, and this was little more than a game for them.

So I am not thinking that casting lots was exactly what God had in mind to replace Judas, but that is what Peter knew, so that is what Peter went with.  Jesus was not there to give input, and the Holy Spirit had not yet come to give guidance, so Peter, in his boldness, went with what he thought was best.  Maybe he should have waited.  The two men considered, Joseph Barabbas and Matthias, are never really heard from again, but one of them tasted rejection that day.  I am so glad I have not been chosen or not by God, simply by flipping a coin or rolling the dice.  That seems pretty OUT of control....

I guess John Ortberg, Author and Teaching Pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago says it best:

"Biblically, waiting is not just something we have to do

until we get what we want.

Waiting is part of the process of becoming

what God wants us to be."

Looking to keep giving up control, and waiting, so I don't miss out on something really good....sorry Janet!