What Are You Waiting For?

What are you waiting for?

Have you had an idea, a hope of what your promise was…and then watched it seemingly sail away like a helium-filled balloon that slipped out of your grasp?

Have you wondered, “Did I not hear the Lord correctly?”

Or maybe even, “Did He not hear me when I told Him what I wanted?”

Have you found yourself standing there bewildered, just staring up into the sky?

Part of the final instructions Jesus gave to the disciples, which were given to Him through the Holy Spirit, were “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 1:4-5)

What did this mean? Was this gift, this promise, to restore the kingdom of Israel to power? To finally conquer the world?

Jesus responded to their questions this way.

“The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:7-8)

And then they watched him lift into the air and ascend into heaven. There was no forceful military action, no conquering of the world. They stood there bewildered, just staring up into the sky.

As they strained to see him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven?” (Acts 1:10-11a)

So what do we do when we don’t know what to do?

The disciples remembered their instructions and went back to Jerusalem to wait…for a gift that they didn’t understand. Jesus had told them not to worry about all the details of the plan. He told them what their part would be and how He would help them to do it – and they still couldn’t comprehend what He meant.

But they didn’t just sit and wait passively for something to happen.

They were united and prayed together constantly.

They remembered prophecies they had heard and started to understand some things that didn’t make sense before.

They worked together and took care of business that needed to be done – finding a replacement for Judas.

When we are waiting for God to work, waiting on a promise to be fulfilled, waiting to figure out what He meant, we can find ourselves just standing and staring into heaven looking for answers. We want to know ALL the plans, exactly what will happen and how.

He tells us our part – and leaves us there.

Then we have a choice: to go on with our plan the way we thought it should go, to jump in and impulsively run in the direction we assumed, or to return to the instructions we know we heard clearly and do that until we are given our next move.

The disciples needed that wait. It was the obedience to the wait that allowed them to be filled with the Holy Spirit, which gave them the power and authority to fulfill their calling. A calling for Kingdom expansion, not kingdom restoration. A calling to save the world, not conquer it.

Imagine if they had heard “power” and “tell people everywhere” and went running in all directions without waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit.

What a privilege it is to live life with the Holy Spirit, to experience His guidance, His steadying hand. But how often I go off on my own without waiting for Him to fill me first.

There is purpose in the waiting. We are not just simply waiting – we are waiting for the Holy Spirit to fill us and prepare us for what we are called to do.

The disciples thought it was time to conquer the world, Jesus said, “Wait.”

Without the wait, without the filling, without the power, we will always be lacking something. When we only listen to part of the message, or only obey the parts that fit into our limited thinking, we leave on the journey with the gas tank only half full. We miss out on the fullness of the promise.

Waiting is active.

Waiting is obedient.

Waiting is humility.

Waiting takes courage, strength, and endurance.

Waiting brings clarity.

Waiting builds discipline.

Waiting is better in community.

Waiting well leads to allowing yourself to be filled with the Holy Spirit, with His strength, with His wisdom, with His power.

Don’t just stand there. He’ll be back. Do what He told you to do.