Waiting on Him - Thoughts about Pentecost

My kindred-spirit friends, Jenny and Karen roamed the trails of the National Park on Prince Edward Island with me last summer. Wildflowers waved in the warm sea breeze and sea grass tufts dotted the sandy dunes. They chose to climb the dunes to see what was on the other side. I decided the threat of snakes hiding in the tall grass wasn’t worth the view. I snapped their pictures as they ascended the sandy hills. They paused at the top so I could get their “we made it” pose captured on film; then they disappeared over the crest while I waited, alone.

I paced the pathway, taking macro pictures of Queen Anne’s lace and fat caterpillars lazing on leaves. I watched, shielding my eyes from the sun, but they stayed hidden by the dune barrier. Eventually they appeared at the crest of the dune path, but not before I wished I had gone with them. I feel like I missed out on part of the adventure by waiting behind.

In Acts chapter one, Jesus tells His disciples, “Wait in Jerusalem for the Helper, who will give you power to be my witnesses.” Then He was taken up to Heaven, and disappeared beyond the clouds. I wonder how they felt. I wonder if they minded having to wait. I can imagine their discussions amongst each other, wondering ‘just who or what this Helper was’ anyway.

In Acts chapter two, we can read about the coming power Jesus promised: The rushing wind, the flames of fire and the words spoken in other tongues. From that day, believers in Christ have been given the Holy Spirit’s indwelling power. Jesus’ promise that He will never leave us, now makes sense. His Spirit fills us so that we can not only be His witnesses, but we can live the life that God calls us to, one worthy of His calling.

I believe that throughout our Christian walk we will face times of waiting—situations when we will need to come before Him to receive the power needed for what He calls us to do. Waiting can be a time of surrender, or in the case of Moses, a time of preparation. As hard as waiting can be, I have learned that it is never wasted. Waiting and stillness often produces far more than we imagine. Even Jesus took time to wait in the Father’s presence, because in God’s sovereignty He brings all things together—as scripture often says, “In the fullness of time.”

As we step out to answer God's call to serve, may we be mindful of needing to wait in His presence for the power needed to complete the task we have been given. Where God calls, He provides what we need as we surrender ourselves and wait for the Holy Spirit’s power and direction. Waiting may seem hard. We may not understand what’s needed to accomplish the tasks, but can trust in His word that promises His power and direction to equip us to serve if we will tarry in His presence.

Waiting on Him,

Jeanne

Setting My Default to BELIEVE

I want to adjust my default setting to BELIEVE so that my early responses reflect my faith and trust in the One who is able to accomplish all things. A wonderful example of this came to me after our recent small group meeting. In our discussion of Ephesians chapter one, each one of us marveled at the idea in verses 19-21: the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to us who believe. *

When we were leaving to go home I saw one of the women hurry back into the church. I found out later she took her husband directly to the hospital because of an erratic heartbeat.

I received an email the next morning. They had taken our lesson in Ephesians chapter one to heart and chose to believe and apply the truth we discovered afresh in verses19-21.

Here is their testimony (shared with permission):

“Thank you so much for praying on Thursday night...no wonder he wanted to leave so quickly. He felt his heart go into atrial fibrillation just at the end of our group prayer time. We went to the E.R. and they eventually transferred him to ICU overnight. They released him late this afternoon. His heart went back into normal rhythm by late morning. It was wonderful to pray with him in the E.R. and be reminded of what we had just learned about in our small group....that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, LIVES in us. We prayed that the POWER within him would restore his heart to normal rhythm. SURELY, if that power could raise Christ from the dead, we had the confidence that He could take care of this problem...so small in comparison.”

Amazing!

Oh, may we all have our default set to believe who He is, what He says, and then share how He is working in and around us each day!

How have you believed God? How will you train your heart and mind to believe? I would love to hear your stories—because they encourage others to believe.

Believing with you,

Jeanne

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” Ephesians 1:18-21 NIV