FAITHFUL IN THE WAITING

INTRO

Good morning!

You know, I still remember where I was when I found out that COVID was gonna be a big deal. I was in my last semester of classes at Taylor University, and I had just married my wife Joy. And there was a buzz on campus because they had announced that they were going to be moving classes online for two weeks, which was unlike anything we had seen before. People were going Christian-college crazy, which mostly meant that they were painting their chests and jumping in the lake.

But I also remember that as those two weeks came and went, things didn’t go back to normal. As the virus spread, the lockdowns began, and it just kept going. And the question we all kept asking was, in the imortal words of King Julian, how long is this going to take?! And in a lot of ways the message we received was, “just wait!”

So all of the sudden, we had all the time in the world! It’s funny, we complain so much about not having enough time, and yet when we were forced to wait, when we had the time we thought we needed, what did we do with it? Did we fix up the house like we always wanted to? Did we make the best sourdough bread East of the Mississippi? Did we attend at all to our walk with Christ? See, the number one reason people report for not turning to God daily is that they don’t have enough time. So, when we were forced to wait, what did we do with the time in between? I know the pandemic was a unique time, and we all had a different experience, but just as a test case: What did you do in the waiting?

Last week we began our study of the book of Acts, and Pastor Charlie helped us to see that the Gospel of Luke that we were studying as a church is all about what Jesus began to do and teach: all the miracles, all the ministry, all the inbreaking of the Kingdom—God’s Holy Spirit was poured out onto Him as the Christ, the Anointed One, to set the oppressed free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Jesus Himself said to John the Baptist, look at what’s happening! The lame walk, those who have leprosy are clansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised! The kingdom of darkness is being pushed back!

And then we get into the book of Acts and we find that what Jesus began to do during His life on Earth, He would continue to do through His Church by the power of the Holy Spirit. And He told the disciples “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you’re going to be witnesses” to tell the world of my death, my resurrection, and of the inbreaking of God’s Kingdom.

So what Jesus was promising was nothing short of a powerful, unprecedented move of God! This was the mission! This was the moment! Jesus is promising something unlike what the world had ever seen before! And yet, what were Jesus’ first instructions? We read them last week, but let me put it back on the screen for you. “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait...” Just like we heard over and over again during the lockdowns, Jesus’ first instructions on the way to turning the world upside down are to go and wait. Don’t leave Jerusalem. Stay at home. Lock it down. Just wait.

And as we get into our text for this morning, we’re going to look at how Jesus’ disciples responded to His instructions, what they did with the time in between, and what we can learn from it. Because if we’re honest, none of us enjoyed the waiting. We don’t revel in the time in between. And so I believe that there are some lessons for us to learn today about waiting, and in order to learn those lessons we’ve got to get into the Text.

So if you’ve got your Bibles, go ahead and turn to Acts chapter 1.

Jesus tells them in verse 4, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised,” and now let’s pick it up in verse 12.

Acts 1:12–14 “Then the apostles [The Eleven] returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city [which just means it was a short distance away]. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”

You may be seated.

SET UP

So as we pick things up, Jesus has promising that God is going to move. And yet, as I already pointed out, the first step in this move of God was to wait on God. For whatever reason, God's plan for the disciples in Acts involved a season of waiting.

I mean think about what we’re reading. Theoretically, Jesus could have waited to ascend until the day of pentecost, five minutes before the Holy Spirit comes. And yet He chooses to ascend after forty days of appearances, and to allow 10 days to go by without event before the coming of the Spirit in Acts 2. So the waiting wasn’t an accident; the waiting was absolutely intentional.

And as I’ve studied our text for this morning, I’ve become convinced of this: If we want to see a move of God in our lives, and in our world, we have got to be willing to wait on God.

This stuck out to me because more often than not when we find ourselves in seasons of waiting, we usually think that something has gone wrong. We think we’ve done something wrong, and that the time in between is some sort of punishment. But in our text today, that’s so clearly not the case! The disciples are waiting, and that’s exactly where God wanted them.

And this is a great comfort to us because we know that the reality is that we all find ourselves in seasons of waiting. Every single one of us deals with time in between. And at times, that’s exactly where God wants us. And since it’s Mother’s Day, I want to remind us that this definitely, and at times especially, includes moms!

From the beginning, moms are waiting: They’re waiting to conceive. Waiting for ultrasounds. Waiting for the gender reveal. Waiting for the due date.

Then, as the child is born, they’re waiting for each milestone: for eyes to open, for the baby to smile and laugh; for them to roll over, sit up, and walk; and at long last for the baby to sleep through the night (unless you’re like my wife and you’re still waiting…).

They wait for the child to talk, to get to know them, to learn their likes and dislikes. And even for the next stage when the child is running and jumping and playing and making friends.

That’s all the stuff I know best because that’s as far as Joy and I have gotten with our kids, but I know the waiting doesn’t end there for moms! As a matter of fact, one article I read started out by saying, “Motherhood makes me feel like I am always waiting!”

It’s waiting for the kids to be born and then go to sleep and then wake up over and over again. It’s waiting for teeth to be brushed and shoes to be put on and homework to be finished and toys to be put away. It’s waiting in doctors’ offices and school pick up lines and Target checkouts and restaurants. It’s waiting for goodnight kisses and middle of the night wake up calls and half-hearted apologies. It’s waiting for phone calls to deliver news or for your husband to hurry up and walk through the door. It’s waiting to go on that couple’s trip or chase down your own dreams.

It’s waiting for the kids to come home from school trips and camps. It’s waiting for them to return late-night texts about boyfriends or mid-terms or job offers. It’s waiting for them to wake up in the morning so you can hear about their previous night. It’s waiting for doors to slam and cars to return to the driveway. It’s waiting for the moody phase to be over and waiting for a new relationship to begin. It’s waiting for decisions and reprimands and ceremonies and achievements. It’s waiting to let go, and then hoping they return to your arms for one last embrace.

And all the while, the waiting is often the hardest part, the time we think is wasted.

I love the observation that the article makes in that last line, that the waiting is often the hardest part, the time we think is wasted. None of us wants to wait. And yet at times that’s exactly where God wants us.

And while it’s true of moms, ultimately, we all have these times of waiting.

We’re waiting for...

jobs promotions direction graduation answers test results prognoses independence a driver’s license a spouse healing relief revival victory deliverance to see a loved one (again) to see a friend come to Christ to be in heaven to see Jesus

So God’s plan for our lives is full of waiting. And because that’s the case, we need to ask ourselves: as believers, how can we wait faithfully? What does it look like to wait well? How can I be a Trustworthy Steward of the time in between? So let’s go back and just walk through the Text and see what it is that these early followers of Jesus did during their time in between.

POINT ONE

Looking back at the text, we read in verse 12, “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem... When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying.” The first detail that Luke includes that I want us to see is that the disciples did exactly what Jesus had told them to do. Remember, Jesus had given them specific instructions: Do not leave Jerusalem; just wait! So the first thing that the disciples did with their time in between was to choose to obey what Jesus had said, so you can write down: Waiting faithfully means waiting with active obedience.

See, so often when we’re waiting, there’s a temptation to sit around and do nothing. We despise waiting because we equate waiting with inaction. And yet, the reality is that waiting is not the same thing as spectating. Jesus didn’t tell the disciples to go to Jerusalem and do nothing; He told them to go and wait on God to move. And just like the disciples, there is plenty that God has already revealed to us. Every one of us who is walking with Jesus has a living relationship with the Eternal God. Whether it’s been for five minutes, five days, or five years, God has revealed something of Himself and what He desires to us. When we’re not sure what’s going on, or what else to do, we need to call those things back to mind. Remember who God is. Remember what He’s already shown us. It’s a simple lesson, but an important one: While waiting, be careful to follow what God has already said. And if you’re in a season of waiting, ask yourself: Have you been faithful with all that God has already revealed to you? If not, that’s a great place to begin!

Continuing on in our text, we read that...

“Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly… ”

The second thing I want to point out is this phrase, “they all joined together constantly.” This phrase is sometimes translated differently because the words that Luke uses have a depth of meaning that goes beyond merely being with others and into being “joined together” (NIV). So for instance, in the ESV it says they were “of one accord,” the NET has the most literal translation, which is “with one mind,” the amplified Bible says they were “of one purpose.”

I even love how Eugene Peterson tries to capture the depth here in The Message Bible: “They agreed they were in this for good, completely together…” The language that Luke uses stresses their unity, and their agreement, and their commitment to one another, so you can write down: Waiting faithfully means waiting with one another.

If we’re not careful, our seasons of waiting will cause us to isolate. And that’s when we begin to feel lost, forgotten, and discouraged. But this is why God gives us the church! This is why He doesn’t call us on a solo mission! That’s one of the things I love about this text: The disciples didn’t go to Jerusalem to separate homes and go on with their lives; they leaned in together! Because while waiting, we need support, and we can find support in the community of faith.

And not only find support, but also be encouraged by the move of God in the lives of others. Because notice with me who it was that was joined together constantly. It’s the apostles (eleven in total), Mary (Jesus’ mom), some other women, and Jesus’ brothers. So by a generous estimate, it were maybe 30 people. And yet, look at Acts 1:15, “In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty).” So in a little over a week, they quadrupled in size—why? Because God was working in their waiting, and it was contagious! God was at work, but they could only see it through one another. So when you find yourself in the waiting, follow the example of these early disciples: don’t wait alone.

But I also want to say that simply being around one another doesn’t work like magic. They weren’t simply getting together for the fun of it. Rather…

They all joined together constantly... in prayer.

The disciples were constantly joining together, but the object, the focus of their gathering wasn’t simply one another; the focus of their gathering was prayer. This isn’t something they did once. It’s not something they did occasionally. It was their primary occupation. If you had to give a one-word summary of what the disciples chose to do during their time waiting on God, it was to focus their heart and their attention on God through persistent, fervent prayer. This is another simple, but essential truth we learn all throughout the book of Acts: Waiting faithfully means waiting with expectant prayer. After recieving their marching orders from Jesus, His followers went and prayed until God acted, or until they received further instruction. They didn’t go back to life as usual, they didn’t focus on themselves and the inconveniece, they focused on God, and on His mission through prayer.

And throughout the generations, great moves of God have always come on the tail end of the expectant prayers of His people. Whether we’re looking in the Scriptures at the times when God heard the cries of His people and acted to save them, or whether we’re looking at the Great Awakenings of America, God’s move has always been anticipated by fervent, yearning prayer.

Now I’ll admit, it’s unclear whether the move of God is brought on by the prayers of His people, or whether God prompted prayer because He was ready to move, but one thing is absolutely clear: The only way to be certain not to see God move in our world today is to refuse to pray in the time between. Because either God will allow the waiting to continue, or else God will act in our midst and we will miss it because we were focused on ourselves. Friends, prayer is an essential part of being a missionally driven, outwardly focused church. So, while waiting, keep your eyes off of yourself and look to God by crying out to God for God to move.

TRANSITION: So, here’s what we find in our text in the lives of these disciples: Waiting faithfully means waiting with active obedience, waiting with one another, and waiting with expectant prayer. And this is a great example to us of how we should wait!

But there’s still a problem.

If we’re honest, the reality is that we would rather just skip the waiting altogether! If it were up to us, we would jump right into Pentecost! We would skip the add! We would get the fast pass! We would jump the line! Like I read earlier in that article, we think that waiting is a waste of time. See this is the temptation in waiting that can be so hard for moms: We are always looking to the next season, and then when we get there, we’re nostalgic for the last one. Really, the only time that we don’t want is the time we’re in right now. We want to skip ahead to the next fun thing, or reminisce about the glory days, and all the while we neglect the moment that we’re in, and we fail to receive the blessing of the time in between.

The truth is that, if we had the ability, we would eliminate waiting from the equation of our lives; yet God has the ability, but He chooses not to. Remember, their season of waiting was absolutely intentional. And this should cause us to ask another question: “Why does God’s plan involve seasons of waiting?” Why would God allow things to go on like this? Why won’t God just give me what I’m waiting for? Why does it seem like it’s taking so long? So with the time we have left, I want to turn back to the text and try to answer this question.

POINT TWO

The first thing I want to point out is that, if you think back to our Text, the disciples didn’t know how long they would be waiting for the Holy Spirit. Jesus said it will be “in a few days,” but “few” is a relative term! And the closest thing we have to compare it to is probably the coming of Messiah, which had been promised for centuries, starting all the way back in Genesis 3! So “few” compared to centuries could be quite a long time. We have the benefit of looking back and knowing that it was only ten days, but they had no way of knowing it at the time. All they knew is that it hadn’t happened yet.

And you have to wonder, what were the disciples thinking on the third day? On the fifth day? On the seventh day? I’d imagine at some point, they may have been wondering the same things we wonder, and the same things that we read in the lament Psalms: “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” (Psalm 13:1). This is often the hardest part of our seasons of waiting: not knowing how long it’s going to be, or when it will end.

In the moments of waiting, we quickly feel discouraged, left behind, and forgotten. And yet it’s in those moments that we need to remember what Peter, who was one of these men in waiting, writes in 2 Peter 3:8–9, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” See, whatever else we know about the time in between, we know this: God does not carelessly delay.

In the waiting, we’re forced to deal with the fact that God is God, and we’re not. And for whatever reason, when we’re waiting, God has allowed that season of waiting to persist. And we like to think that if we could be king for a day, we could fix things right up and move things steadily on. But what that reveals is that we think that we know better than God.

So we need to be reminded this morning that... “As for God, his way is perfect...” (Psalm 18:30). That “‘[His] purpose will stand… [His] salvation will not be delayed” (Isaiah 46:10, 13). That “[His] thoughts are not [our] thoughts, neither are [our]ways [His] ways” (Isaiah 55:8–9). His ways are higher. His purposes are greater. Even in the waiting.

‌And when it comes to our text this morning, this season of waiting forced the disciples to come face to face with an important reality: That God is God and they’re not. That apart from God, it was impossible for them to accomplish the mission that God had given. I mean, imagine if just before He ascended, Jesus had just said, “alright, you guys got this! Good luck!” The message then would have been, “it’s up to you. Try harder. Make sure you get everything right. The fate of the world hangs in the ballance, and the weight is all on your shoulders.” In that case, God’s mission would have been all about the performance of the followers of Jesus: If they do well, God’s mission and move goes well. If they do poorly, God’s mission and move go poorly. And there are times when this is exactly how we live our lives: like it’s all up to us! We try to take the wheel because in our pride, we think that God needs our help!

And yet what Jesus says is, in effect, “YOU DON’T GOT IT. I know that in yourselves you don’t have what you need; that’s alright, because it’s not about you anyway! It’s about what I am going to do in you and through you.” And see in this case, God’s mission isn’t about performance; it’s about yieldedness. It’s about surrender. It’s about trusting that God is God and I’m not, and that His ways are higher than my own.

Way too often, we as Christians want to spring into action and jump at every idea, because we think that what the world really needs, or what we really need, is for us to do more things. And while on the one hand God does want to use us, the reality is that we are not what the world needs; Jesus is what the world needs! Not our activism, but a move of God, by His Spirit, because of His grace. And that’s something we can’t fund raise toward. It’s not a program we can build. It’s not a perfect sermon we can preach. It’s not something that we can manufacture. And that’s what God was teaching them in the waiting.

See, in verse four, we read that the power that would enable the mission of God to move forward was promised as a gift. The power that the Church needed then, and the power that the Church needs now can’t be bought. It can’t be earned. It was a power that had to be freely given and received. And God wanted them to receive it through waiting, and the very same thing is true today. We can only give to our children, moms. We can only give to our neighbors, to our spouses, to our world what we have. And we get what we need when we learn to wait on God! We can’t stand our seasons of waiting because we think that they’re so ineffective, that they have no purpose. But what I see in our Text is that Jesus wanted His disciples to wait because He wanted them to effective! Because He knew that what was needed was not for them to move, but for God to move in them.

And for those of you who have been following Jesus for some time, you know that God does some of His very best work in us in times of waiting and wilderness, because just like the early disciples, God wants to use our time of wilderness and waiting to teach us to depend on Him.

And this has always been the case. It’s no wonder that Abraham, whose faith was credited to him as righteousness, is called out of his home to go to a place he didn’t know, and to spend virtually his whole life between one place and the next. It’s because God meets us in the wandering. It’s no wonder that Jacob, who would be the father of God’s chosen people, meets God out on a journey in the middle of nowhere while he’s fleeing for his life. It’s because God meets us in the wilderness. It’s no wonder that Moses, who God used to lead His people out of Egypt, encounters God while he’s spending 40 years in the desert in hiding. It’s because God meets us in the waiting. And it’s no wonder that the nation of Israel, having been freed from Eqypt, wandered 40 years in the wilderness on their way to receive all that God had promised! It’s not because God carelessly delays; it’s because God uses the wilderness and the wandering and the waiting to form His people. As Paul David Tripp in his book, A Shelter in the Time of Storm: “Waiting isn’t just about what you are hoping for at the end of the wait, but also about what you will become as you wait.” In the waiting, God teaches men and women to yearn for Him, and to rely on Him, to hunger for Him! And that means that God had a purpose for their season of waiting.

And I believe that God has a purpose for our seasons of waiting as well. God wants to develop something IN us so that He can do something THROUGH us. And He might just use the time in between to do it.

I don’t know exactly why God’s plan for your life involves the season of waiting that you’re in, but what I do know is this: God has a purpose for your season of waiting. He hasn’t forgotten you, He’s forming you. He is not needlessly delaying, He’s teaching you to depend on Him.

So the question I want you to consider is this: Are you willing to “wait on the Lord?” If the first step to God’s move in your life is waiting on God, are you willing to wait? Because your willingness to wait reveals the level of your trust.

You know, the phrase "wait on the Lord" is used in the OT to basically mean "trust in the Lord." So really this question is asking, “Are you willing to Trust in God? Are you willing to believe that God is God and you’re not. That His ways are better, that His plans are better, that His purposes are better, even if it includes the time in between with all of its dufficulty and uncertainty and pain?

Can you accept that God has a purpose for your season of waiting? And, are you willing to trust Him? Because it may just be the case that God has brought this season of waiting into your life to develop something in you so that He can do something through you.

CONCLUSION

And this is one of the reasons why moms have such an impact on our lives. Because they traffic so much in the waiting, and in the times in between, they are always faced with the question: Am I going to trust God in this moment? Am I going to surrender in this season? Am I going to try and take the reigns, or am I willing to trust God? And so moms have the opportunity to develop this deep faith, this deep trust, this deep yieldedness to the Lord, and at the end of the day that’s exactly what their children, and their spouses, and their family, and their world needs. Not for them to be perfect; for them to learn to depend on God, so that God can do something in them, so that He can do something through them in the lives of all the people they love and nurture and influence.

You see, God wants us to wait faithfully because He wants us surrendered completely.

Because just like He did in the book of Acts, God will use surrendered, expectant people to change the world.

As we close, there’s just one more thing I want to share about waiting, and it’s this: no season of waiting lasts forever. As we’ll read next week, God was faithful to His promise! The waiting was not in vain. The Holy Spirit fell on the disciples in the upper room, and the church of Christ was born, and God used formed, dependent, surrendered people to turn the world upside down! They didn’t wait forever. And neither will you.

And the only reason we can be faithful in the waiting is because we serve a God who is faithful to His promises. Even if the tide doesn’t seem to be turning. Even if things don’t seem to be changing.

And so we wait in great expectation, and with great faith because we know that even if we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, God can. He holds us fast, and He holds our future, so we hold on to every promise He’s made! The promise to be with us, the promise to go before us, the promise to watch over us, the promise that He’s working in our waiting, because He’s working all things together for good, and the promise that in the end, He will return and set all things to right. That this time in between is not forever.

And so because of this confidence, we can say to Him, “We trust You! We trust You! You’re ways are higher than our own!”

Will you choose to wait on God this morning? Because in the end, when you choose to wait on God, you’ll find that He was worth waiting for.

Let’s pray.