Gateway to Faith

Wait for the Promise.

Have you ever asked your young toddler to “wait” for something? Something they really wanted at that moment. What happened?  A temper tantrum, a full melt down?  Likely, we’ve all seen it. An immature human (young or old) throwing a fit because they didn’t want to wait for something they really wanted.

The Dictionary’s meaning of “wait” is, “to remain inactive  or in a state of repose (calm & quiet), as until something expected happens.”  Expectations, unmet quickly, seems to be an enormous ask to the human flesh, isn’t it? Think about how hard that is in today’s society that caters so much to getting instant gratification. Quietly waiting or the exercise of self-control to not gratify our desire of the moment seems extinct!! Shamefully, the world revolves around getting our cravings met as quickly as possible, sometimes at any cost.

Scripture is full of examples of those that had to wait for God’s Promise, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Moses, the Israelite nation, Jacob, Joseph, Job, David…. Most of these, many years!

In Acts Jesus commands, yes commands, his Apostles to “wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit.” All four gospels record John the Baptist promising that Jesus would baptize (immerse) them with the Holy Spirit. The prophet Joel predicted it about it 800 years prior to it happening. Jesus himself reminds them of this promise as well. (John 14:16-20, 26)

As a Pastor of mine used to often say, “when God shows up, He shows off.” And boy, did He? When this promise finally came about, a promise that had baffled the young disciples, it came with power and was so remarkable, that thousands came to believe, as we will see in a later chapter.

Waiting is a favorite tool of our Divine Father. It tests us, trains us, exposes our motives, strengthens our character but mostly, I think, it does what the Dictionary describes. It get’s us in a state of repose until God shows up and shows off. That should be incredibly easy for us since we all like to wait until someone else steps up to the plate so we don’t have to. But, that is usually for something we don’t want or like. It’s the things we do want that are hard to wait for. Some of my favorite waiting verses are in a blog titled simply, “Waiting on God.” I will share just a couple of verses here from that blog.

James 1:4 “Let perseverance finish it’s work so that you may be mature and complete…”

Psalm 27:13-14 “Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

And my favorite! Lamentations 3:24-26 “…the Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for him….it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

Wait quietly for the promise of God. A promise that was foretold time and again. A promise that began 800 years prior to it coming about. But waiting is exactly what the apostles ended up doing as we will see in a later chapter, and it was not only well rewarded but it changed the course of all Christendom and we benefit today.

So, my friend, learn to wait. Wait calmly and quietly for the promise of God. It’s not only good for you, you never know when it could impact the entire world.