Acts 1:26
And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
Acts 1:26
After Judas committed suicide, Peter used Scriptures in Psalms to show that he would need to be replaced to bring the number of the disciples back up to 12. He was right about that, however, his method for picking said disciple was wrong.
At the beginning of Acts 1, Jesus told the disciples to wait for the spirit to come upon them. As we get to this verse above, that still hadn’t happened, so Peter didn’t pick the replacement disciple by the Spirit, but by the Old Testament method of casting lots. He picked two names and the lots came up for Matthias. This will be the first and last time he’s mentioned in the Bible.
If Peter would have waited, he would have realized God had another plan, to pick Saul, later Paul, as the 12th man.
There are lot of lessons to learn from this. One, we don’t have to make decisions right away, we should wait for the Lord to guide us. Two, we shouldn’t limit God. Peter picked just two men to replace Judas, limiting who God could pick. It didn’t work out.
Before you make any tough decisions, pray to the Lord to guide you through His Spirit. You might be surprised at His answer.
Holy Spirit, speak to me,
Pastor Ron Kitchell