Luke 24:49
“And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Sometimes you just have to wait.
I somehow doubt that this is the way the disciples expected this encounter to end. Up to this point, after all, the day has been rather dramatic. Rumors and sightings and then a full-blown (and full-body) encounter with their Risen Lord who
shows them his crucified yet risen body,
eats fish to prove he’s really and fully there,
draws them into the story of Scripture by explaining how the cross fits and fulfills the law and the prophets,
commissions them to be witnesses to all these things,
promises the gift of the Holy Spirit…
and then tells them to wait.
Life, when you think about it, is filled with an inordinate amount of waiting.
Most of us find that rather vexing. We know what we want, what we want to do or where we want to go, and we are eager to get started. But our timing is not always God’s timing, and waiting, also, is part of the Christian life.
Waiting is hard in part, I think, because it feels like only a delay, like nothing is getting done, like there is no point or purpose to the time between our desire or plan and its fulfillment. But this passage reminds me that waiting occupies its own space, has its own purpose. Waiting creates space for preparation, for anticipation, for other things to be set in motion and come to maturity. Waiting is not necessarily an absence of movement but holds its own presence and purpose.
For what are you waiting just now? A job, a change, a relationship, a rest, a return, a release? It may not be easy. What you hope for may or may not come to pass. But this challenging, vexing time may also be part of God’s movement and design in the world and in your life.
Prayer: Dear God, help us to wait when it is time to wait, to work when it is time to work, to rest when it is time to rest, and through it all to hear your voice and trust your promises. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Your remarks are so true! This past year has been filled with waiting and my impatience was helped by a book by Holly W. Whitcomb emntitled Seven Spiritual Gifts of Waiting(Augsburg-ISBN 978-0-8066-5128-6)- patience, loss of control, living in the present, compassion, gratitude, humility and trust in God. It helped me rethink my tendency to always being doing, and refocus on learning to “be”. Now each morning and often evening, includes a series of prayer postures while singing/saying the Taize chant “Wait for the Lord`. It calms me and keeps me mindful that God is in charge and my waiting will accomplish God`s purposes in God`s time.
I am more patient now – Sometimes! It is a journey. God grant us the ability to wait for the Lord`s guidance and trust God will show us the way and accompany us on it.