Once again I have been challenged by one of my pastors. Let me just start by saying that when I write these posts I really do want them to be helpful and inspirational for my readers. But be clear that when I say 'you' the you is inclusive of me. I am far from mastering discipleship 101 let alone earning a degree in discipleship!
That being said, what are you waiting for? Many of us struggle to determine what it is God wants to do with our lives, some of us for many years. We keep waiting for that 'magical something' that will make it crystal clear what we are to do. Waiting is hard. The Jews of Jesus' day were waiting for a messiah who would overturn the Roman government and seize control. They thought Jesus was that kind of answer when He began His ministry. When He was killed they were taken aback because they had been looking for a conquering warrior who would assume some sort of throne of power. They were waiting for the wrong kind of king.
Two angels asked "Why are you looking into the tomb, He is not here" They probably thought that meant that He was going to set up His kingdom any moment. Another time they asked, "Why are you gazing into the heavens". They were expecting that maybe he had ascended to gather His army and that He would soon be returning to overthrow the empire.
The church never got off the ground until the disciples returned to Jerusalem, waited in prayer and understood that this is what God wanted all the time was for them to wait prayerfully to be filled with the Holy Spirit. They re-traced the steps of Jesus in prayerful waiting. Once they did that - well, read Acts chapter two for the rest of the story.
So maybe our problem is that we don't know how to wait. Don't wait for a miraculous sign. Be sensitive to the prodding of the Holy Spirit while you prayerfully wait in His presence. God does have a mission for each of us, we must be willing to wait in the right way by retracing the steps of Jesus leading up to the cross and following His example of prayerfulness.
Nobody likes to wait, waiting is hard. Waiting becomes even harder when we are waiting for the wrong thing.
The waiting is hard. But, what happens when we feeling thinking "oh this may be what God wants for me to do.... ohhh, God must be mistaking me with someone else...". When He speaks, we learn real quick He chooses the most earthly unqualified person - us. When God calls us into action, it definitely grows us in the trusting Him department. :)
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