There are times when it would be great to telephone God - collect! Or to pull God aside to ask a few questions. Or, at least, to write Him a letter. In the book Children's Letters to God, the authors have compiled an amusing yet insightful scrapbook of thoughts and questions children have posed to God. Here are a few samples:

Dear God,
I wrote you before do you remember? I did what I promised. But you did not send me the Horse Yet. What about it?
Lewis

Dear God,
When you started the earth and put people there and all the animals and grass and the stars did you get very tired? I have a lot of other questions too.
Very truly yours,

Sherman

Dear God,
Do you get your angels to do all the work? Mommy says we are her angels and we have to do everything.
Love Maria

Regardless of how foolish or childish these questions may seem, they're the best way to get specific answers. The disciples asked Jesus lots of questions. In fact, just moments before Jesus ascended into heaven, they raised their hands to wave one more eager question before their teacher.

So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6)

Patiently but firmly, Jesus told them what they didn't need to worry about and, in doing so, redirected their attention to the page of God's plan that was soon to be turned.

He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witness both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1:7-8)

With the promise of the Holy Spirit's presence and power, Jesus spoke His last words on earth and ascended into heaven. Like a rocket slowly lifting off the launchpad, Jesus ascended into the clouds, leaving the awestruck disciples craning their necks, squinting for one last look as He disappeared into the sky.

The Father's act of receiving His Son into heaven was His expression of final approval for Christ's redemptive mission. And although Christ's earthly mission of redemption was complete - "having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time" (Hebrews 10:12)- His heavenly ministry demonstrates that His involvement with man continues. We have a great high priest - Jesus the God - Man - who, though sinless, is sympathetic. He will eternally defend us before God from Satan's accusations and constantly intercede to forgive our sin and guilt (see Romans 8:34). Jesus is intimately involved with mankind by sovereignly calling out a people for Himself, sovereignly functioning as the head of the Church, and sovereignly directing the affairs of life.

Because Jesus was God in the flesh and related to man in an eyeball-to-eyeball friendship (see John 11:1-44), we are assured that the distance of His heavenly throne won't separate us from His presence. Repeatedly, the writer to the Hebrews exalts the deity and majesty of the enthroned Savior. Yet he is careful to underscore that this great high priest, this almighty and sovereign Lord, is also a close companion and friend. And what a friend we have in Jesus—"the same yesterday and today, yes and forever" (Hebrews 13:8)

From Insights Newsletter Vol. 9, No. 4. April 1999

Children's Letters to God, comp. Eric Marshall and Stuart Hample (New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, Pocket Books, 1996).

Adapted from "Jesus Ascended and Seated in Heaven," Jesus, Our Lord study guide co-authored by Ken Gire, from the Bible-teaching ministry of Charles R. Swindoll (Anaheim, Calif.: Insight for Living, 1994) pp. 45-50

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