I hate waiting. Red is a beautiful color EXCEPT on a traffic light in my lane. I avoid a certain unnamed big box discount retail establishment because it is notorious for long waits in the checkout line. Doctors’ offices stretch the capacity of my attention span unlike any other place. I ate at a restaurant the other day where my server could more aptly be called by the previous nomenclature of “waiter,” because wait is what I did.
I know that in Isaiah 40:31, God promises that those who wait for Him will received renewed strength, but waiting does not come naturally for me. Waiting is something that we all must do from time to time; it is one of those necessary evils in life.
I ran across something while reading my Bible the other day, however, that has given me new encouragement for my seasons of waiting, and I hope it will be helpful to you. When Jesus was ready to ascend back to heaven, he met with his disciples one last time on the Mount of Olives and gave them an order to wait.
And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father… – Acts 1:4a
They expected Jesus to overthrow the Roman government and establish their idea of kingdom, but instead he told them to… wait. The object of their waiting, though, was a great encouragement – the promise of the Father.
So, they obeyed. Had they gotten impatient and left Jerusalem and went about doing their own thing, they would have missed the promise of the Father. Instead, they stayed where they were, faithful day in and day out to the little things of life. They faithfully obeyed the last instructions until they received new ones. In Acts 2, the promise of the Father came and the Holy Spirit poured out in them and empowered them for ministry that changed the world.
Our church is in a season where we are waiting on God’s promises to us, and I know many individuals who also are in waiting mode. As we wait, let’s be faithful day in and day out to obey what we know God has already instructed us. Don’t miss out on the promise of the Father for your life or your church because you were not faithful in the waiting.
What have you learned while waiting on God? Feel free to share in the comment section.