Imagine the scene: Jesus gives his disciples instructions for what will come next. He gets them all excited. Then he tells them to wait. And then he goes into heaven.
Do you like to wait? There are times I have trouble waiting for my drink at McDonald’s to be poured, and I’m the one pouring it! Waiting is important and is something that is good for us to practice.
Why should we wait? First of all, waiting and being patient prepares our heart and mind to be able to handle and appreciate what is coming. If we act too quickly, we might not allow the opportunity to sink in. We just might miss out on the benefit that will occur. Secondly, waiting just might show us a better way than we thought about before. We just might be able to see more clearly the objective in a new light and a new path is formed simply because we waited.
As a disciple and follower of Jesus Christ it would be a good idea to practice the spiritual discipline of waiting through silence, solitude, maybe even work. Psalm 46:10 says to “be still and know that I am God.” What we need to be clear on is that sometimes this involves being still and in silence, while other times it involves continuing to do the work we have begun. That clears it up, right?
How can we know if we should be still or if we should continue working? I think it all depends on your situation. Notice Jesus told the disciples to remain in Jerusalem and wait. He did not say to remain in Jerusalem and do nothing. This is key. Even when we are waiting on God, it is more of actively waiting rather than passive waiting.
Prayer is active waiting because we are actively communicating with our God in heaven. Not just telling Him what we want or want Him to do; but hearing anything He desires to tell us. If we were to simply sit and do nothing, we could miss out on hearing from God.
Now, we can wait for God by continuing to do the work we were doing before. In John chapter 5, Jesus says that his Father is always working and He is too. Most of the time when we want to know what God wants us to do, we just have to get out there and work; finding where God is working and then join Him in that work.
This week, I encourage you to ask God to show you where He is working. Ask Him to soften your heart to those around you. You just might be interrupted in your day and step into work with God and change another person’s life forever…maybe the life you see changed is your own.
R Y A N S T R A T T O N 
Great comments, Ryan.
I was listening to the sermon of another pastor this morning about this very topic. The pastor quoted 2 Peter 3:8’s “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” He pointed out that we frequently get focused on one problem or one topic and we want God to answer that one prayer. God, on the other hand, is looking at the big picture and is working out many different variables to bring us good. And to God, this additional time is barely the blink of an eye. 😉
When we are impatiently waiting on God, he is working all things for our good. We should take faith in the fact that we serve an all knowing, all loving, and undefeated God.
May God bless you.
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Good points!
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