God’s promises are worth waiting for (acts 1:4)

Right from the start of the book of Acts we find Jesus speaking differently than the Apostles. (remember the boat discussion back in Mark 12?)

Here the Apostles wanted to know when Jesus would restore the Kingdom back to Israel,
but Jesus had something different in mind. Jesus had been thinking of them personally. God’s methods are always different than man’s. Jesus’ method here would come with a personal promise now, while the Apostles methods were based on future promise later.
Which promise needed to come first? The personal promise.

How often do we see the big picture and immediately shoot for it, only to end up with a gigantic failure? Criticisms, finger pointing, closed door discussions, and nasty little labels get tagged on to our reputation only because we placed the general revelation pre-maturely above our own spiritual necessities?

God wanted Israel’s restoration His way. His ways are pre-determined by the Father’s counsel and are hidden and fixed by His authority alone.
Once we get a handle on this truth, the revelation we once engaged in will eventually come super-naturally by divine decree. What we need to do presently counts forever, and until we do the things we need to do now, the greater vision will not come to pass
(until much later than perhaps intended.)

So let’s prioritize. Let’s not fail to understand the promises He has for us today because we are too focused on the promises of tomorrow.

The Apostles had to wait, because the promise of God to them was the gift of the Holy Ghost. Once they were endowed with the Spirit, they became satisfied with just being about Jesus’ mission, and not kingdom restoration.