But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (…) While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” -Acts 7:55, 56 & 59, NIV 2010
Stephen’s Godly savvy (I will not focus on what he said for now) irked the Pharisees’ pretentious way of seeing things. Thus, they decided to do the other extreme torture (which it was sorta common those days): stone him.
But Stephen didn’t care, because He saw the fulfillment of what says in Psalm 110:1,”Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet” with the Son of God at the Father’s right throne. He didn’t care that he was getting tortured, as he would die knowing that he did God’s will.
(Whoa…Did I just write that!?!? Gloria Dios, sometimes I surprise me!) It may have taken Stephen torture and then death to see a glimpse of God’s gory, yet he enjoyed such beautiful presence. Yet for us, it just takes faith to see what God is doing –if He wills to do so. Sometimes it’s not the time; others, He just don’t plain want to. But whatever happens, let us hope that we can say like Stephen, “Receive my Spirit.”