Blessed to Wait
- 18 hours ago
- 3 min read
44 Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you--that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 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." 50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. (Luke 24:44-50)
The disciples were likely getting used to post-resurrection Jesus showing up unexpectedly. Maybe they thought this would be their new normal. Then Jesus switched things up again. He opened their minds to understand the scriptures many of them had heard all of their lives, the word they had been experiencing while Jesus was with them, the Word they would carry into the world. Then Jesus blessed them, and as they were watching him be taken up, he told them to stay in the city and wait for power from God. Wait? Now that they were enlightened and fired up? Perhaps, especially now that they felt enlightened, it was important for them to pause and remember that they were not the authority. The power to go forward would come from God and God alone.
Sometimes our exuberant certainty, our lack of humility, or our impatience with those who are in a different spiritual, emotional, or mental state than we are might push away the very people we are called to serve. Yet this directive to wait wasn't a call to passivity and inaction, but a continuation in the disciples' preparation. They had to learn to trust God's timing, to rest in God's will, and to move by God's leading - and so must we. Obedient to Jesus, the disciples stayed together and continually gathered in worship and praise as they waited to be
further equipped by God.
Telling our stories of faith requires humble honesty that doesn't devolve into self-deprecation or self-aggrandizement. Remembering that sharing God's call to repentance is not an invitation to judge the choices of another, or minimize their struggles, requires that same humility along with wisdom. And offering God's merciful forgiveness requires a compassionate heart, willing to seek restoration and wholeness - even for those who may not seek the same for us. None of this is possible without the power that only God can provide. Like the first disciples, may the joy of our relationship with our risen savior sustain us as we pause and yield ourselves continually to the movement of God's Spirit.
16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. (Ephesians 1:16-19)
Enjoy this original song by yours truly.
And this worship experience...
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