The Year of our Lord, Jesus Christ
Acts 1:4
And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
To wait is a difficult thing to do. The problem with waiting is that it is not doing. Humans seem to desire to do, not wait. Pull up to a drive through window, you are there because when hungry that is the fastest place to go for food. If there are five or ten cars ahead of you, is it easy to wait your turn? The reason is that waiting seems to serve no function in that scenario. How about missing an exit meaning that you have to drive to the next exit to turn around? All the time you are driving to the next exit you are waiting to get back on track toward your destination. If the exit is five miles away, you’ve wasted the time it takes to drive that distance plus that distance again to get to the right exit.
Waiting most of the time is horrible, but it is exactly that what the Lord told His followers to do; wait for the promise of the Father, which,…ye have heard of me. He promised them the Holy Spirit, but they had to wait for Him. Wait they must because sometimes God has a purpose in the waiting. Sometimes we wait for Him because He has a timetable that is not ours. Then, sometimes we wait because He must do some things in the spiritual realm before His promise becomes a reality.
In John 15:5 Jesus said…without me ye can do nothing. Sometimes it takes a while to wait before He moves. If we are to do things with Him, we often must wait for Him. In the wilderness wanderings Israel had to camp and wait until the Lord moved, then they moved. In Amos 3:3 the prophet asks a question from the Lord, Can two walk together, except they be agreed? The answer is no. But to walk with another means that there will probably be some degree of waiting. Waiting for the other person to show up to begin the walk. One may walk faster than the other meaning they must sometimes wait for them. One time while snow skiing some of our group was much faster on their skis than others. The fast group would, on occasion, have to stop and wait for the rest of the group in order to stay together.
Likewise, oftentimes a believer in Christ must simply wait for Him. Not that He is slow, but that He has a timetable that is not ours. Yes, waiting may seem interminable but in waiting for Him, it will well be worth the wait. His disciples waited in Acts 1, and boy were they rewarded. On the day the Lord appointed, the Holy Ghost filled them allowing them to do and see wonderful, mysterious, and amazing things.
Ever noticed that a very famous verse about waiting gives us a clue as to how to wait? Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Now, to a hurting and broken body that is a promise that will be worth the wait!
Until next time,
William T. Howe, Ph.D.
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