“I Know My God,” By Sarah Hollcraft, Fiat Ventures

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord

A couple years ago, I made friends with a coworker who encouraged me daily with this same phrase: “I know my God and my God is a god who is merciful” …or powerful, compassionate, patient, etc. This was her answer to everything, and I don’t think any other answer could have comforted me more. I just needed to hear that it was okay to not have the right answer because God is still God. Our God is still good. She was a woman who took Jesus’ words to heart: “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.” She either didn’t know or understand God’s plan, but she knew her God and that was enough to give her peace. 

In prayer, we often plead that God would give us a sign, tell us what to do, or make His will clear, and oftentimes, He doesn’t. We pray and promise that if we just knew His plan, we would be at peace. If we could hear His commands, we would follow Him perfectly. But God knows better. I’m sure there is so much about Jesus’ crucifixion, death, and resurrection that the disciples couldn’t understand, but even more so, the ascension must have made no sense. Why would Jesus leave them again when He had proven that He could remain here on earth and perform miracles with His resurrected body?

After 2000 years of Church history, martyrs, and miracles, do we now understand? If Jesus did not ascend, we would not have been given the Holy Spirit. If Jesus did not ascend, we could not consume His body and blood in the Eucharist. I don’t know all the reasons that Jesus ascended back into heaven, but I do know my God. And my God is a god who is overflowing. A god who has given me the gifts to drive out demons, speak new languages, heal the sick, and proclaim the Gospel with only a mustard seed of faith. God who sends people filled with the Holy Spirit to drive out my demons, heal my wounds, and evangelize to me. During these days leading up to Pentecost, let’s make a space for the Spirit to dwell in us, and we’ll see that maybe Jesus did in fact know what He was doing when He ascended.