I don’t know about you, but waiting is one of the most frustrating things to me. I don’t like waiting in traffic, the grocery store checkout line, or for the next episode of my favorite show to drop. Waiting is hard. I’m not very good at it.
But waiting is inevitable, of course. It’s part of life. And it’s the kind of thing that God often requires. Just think of the people God uses most significantly in the Bible: Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Jeremiah, Paul, and even Jesus. Every one of them had long seasons of waiting as God prepared them for the work they would do. Waiting, it turns out, is an essential element of life with God.
After Jesus ascended to heaven, He told His disciples to wait. He told them of their mission, but they were to wait until the Holy Spirit came upon them. They had no idea how long that wait would last. And so they leaned into that season of waiting and were proactive in their stillness.
In our passage this Sunday (Acts 1:12–26), the disciples model five proactive responses for seasons of waiting. For those of us who struggle to wait well, there’s a lot to learn here. If God has you in a season of waiting these days, I think you’ll find this passage to be deeply encouraging and profoundly challenging. Come discover what it means to be still, and know that He is God!
Even in the waiting, we are loved, more than we know!
Thank you, Pastor, for this encouragement. I keep waiting for churches to care about staff working in jails, and am surprised there is almost no interest….most churches solely care about inmates, not officers. But, since God created this mission field and loves each officer, I need to wait and watch for His timing.
I know what it’s like to wait, I’ve waited 27 years to move back up on the north side of Chicago after caring for family. It was all God how it happened.
Thank You Jesus!!