28 May 2019—6th Tuesday after Easter

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Imagine being the only person at a 4-way traffic light with no one else on the road. The light for you is red. And it’s still red. Most of us will wait a little bit. Some might rev their engine a little. Others might back up and then go forward. Both have the intent to trigger the coil system that “flips” the lights. However, what if that doesn’t work? How long will you wait?

Most of us would start to get a bit antsy.

Waiting for God to move is commonplace in the Bible, or should we say that waiting is scriptural, but not always written about. Both in and in we read about waiting. The way Scripture is written a lot of the waiting is not written about, as it happens between the action points that we read.

Sometimes, however, waiting would seem to be the opposite thing to do! Paul and Silas are in prison. God moves, their chains fall off, and all the doors to the prison open. In such a situation (such as ), it would seem to be the wise thing to run and escape. Yet, Paul and Silas waited. From a purely human perspective, it would seem that only the Holy Spirit could have prompted them to stay there for whatever the next act was. Stay in jail? Yes, until the right moment.

1) Have you ever had a prayer answered, and then wondered if you should actually accept it? What was it? What decision did you make, and why?

2) We often talk about waiting on God to act, but in Paul and Silas’ case God acted, and yet they still waited. What does this tell you about waiting for God?

3) How do you test when to wait and when to move?