A Time of Waiting
Friday, May 28, 2004
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My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, I know that one of the most important activities in life is telling others the Good News of Jesus. I pray that You will give me boldness to do just that! But even more, I pray that You will give me patience to wait upon You for the empowering touch of the Holy Spirit in ever single moment and situation, that I will share the Good News in Your timing, in Your way with others, that Your kingdom may grow. Fill me right now with Your Holy Spirit that I may know Your presence, and give me the gift of hearing Your voice that I may then go when you call me. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
God's Word For Me Today
Acts 1:6-11
6When the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, are you going to free Israel now and restore our kingdom?”
7“The Father sets those dates,” he replied, “and they are not for you to know. 8But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9It was not long after he said this that he was taken up into the sky while they were watching, and he disappeared into a cloud. 10As they were straining their eyes to see him, two white-robed men suddenly stood there among them. 11They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring at the sky? Jesus has been taken away from you into heaven. And someday, just as you saw him go, he will return!”
Reflecting on God's Word
What do you think it would have been like to stand and watch Jesus ascend in to heaven, and then have the angels tell you He would return in the same way?
A Deeper Exploration of God's Word
In reading through today’s Scripture for a second day, what is there in it that you didn’t notice when you read it earlier in the week?
Thoughts...The Father's Dates...
One of the most challenging and encouraging realities of our lives is that our Heavenly Father sets the dates for ALL activities in this life and the next. We have invested our week considering what it means to wait. The apostles and the other believers had to wait for ten days for the Holy Spirit to come. The reality is they didn’t know how long they would be waiting. It could have been ten days or ten years. All they knew for sure was that Jesus said, “…when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power, and will tell people everywhere…” Sometimes God tells us to wait. When Nancy and I were married, we didn’t think about having children right away, but after a couple of years we decided to have some children. We waited. We waited for weeks, then months, then years. We prayed and asked God to bless us with a child. We prayed and told God that we would be parents. We waited. We went to doctors to find out if there was any physical reason we couldn’t have children, and were told there really wasn’t. We decided we would keep waiting on the Lord. What else was there to do? Finally, we moved to Cincinnati, and Nancy’s new OB-GYN doctor asked her if she had any children. She told the doctor about the situation, and he asked if he could do a blood test. The test revealed that Nancy had a low level of a certain hormone that could be corrected. After she had taken the pills given her by the doctor for a couple of months, Nancy became pregnant. Our prayers were answered! Our waiting was over! Or so it seemed…what actually happened is that Nancy had a miscarriage, and our first child never had the opportunity to become part of our earthly family. We were angry. We were grief-stricken, but we waited again. In God’s timing, on the date He set—June 11, 1989, Abby was born. Then on another date, December 11, 1993, God doubled His blessing in our lives by giving us Emmy. We had no idea on April 14, 1979, when Nancy and started our life as a family WHEN God would provide the rest of our family. We didn’t always enjoy the waiting, but we always knew that God’s timing is perfect. As we mentioned in worship when we were talking about delays—God is never early, and He’s never late. He’s always right on time. As you wait for answers to prayer in your life, or as you wait on the Lord to give you specific direction for certain aspects of your life, remember that the times of waiting, the times of delay are faith-building times! God loves us enough not to answer all of our prayers the moment we raise them to Him, and not to say, “Yes,” to every request. He knows what’s best for us, and in His timing He always provides!