Time for a restart
Christine Colliar
May 17, 2026
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Acts 1: 6-14 (NIV-UK)
6 Then they gathered round him and asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’
7 He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’
12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk[a] from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
The disciples are still asking the old question — Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom?
It is an understandable question. They have walked dusty roads with Jesus, watched crowds gather, seen hope rise and collapse and rise again. Even after the resurrection, they are still trying to understand what comes next.
Jesus does not answer in the way they expect — he speaks about the Holy Spirit, about power, about witness. He gives them a promise, but not a timetable.
Then he is gone.
And they stand there staring into the sky.
We can recognise that moment. There are seasons when something has ended but the next thing has not yet begun. A job changes... a plan fails... a church enters unfamiliar ground. We wait for clarity, checking the same thoughts repeatedly as though eventually they might load properly.
The two figures in white break into that pause — Why are you still standing here looking upwards?
The question is not a rebuke so much as a gentle turning. Do not stay fixed on what has already passed.
So the disciples walk back to Jerusalem. They return to the ordinary streets and rooms and routines. They gather together. They pray. They wait, not knowing exactly what the Spirit will do or how everything will change once this new life begins amongst them.
Perhaps that is what faithfulness sometimes looks like. Not having everything resolved, but placing ourselves again in the presence of God. Returning. Gathering. Praying. Remaining open.
A restart rarely feels dramatic while it is happening. Most of the time it begins quietly, among ordinary people willing to begin again.
That is where the Spirit comes — not to people who already understand everything, but to people willing to stay together long enough to receive what God is giving next.
Prayer:
Living God,
restart us in your presence.
Where we are paused, move us.
Where we are crowded, clear us.
Where we are closed, open us.
Fill us with your Spirit,
fresh life, fresh breath, fresh beginning,
until we rise and go
where you are already leading.
Amen
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