Wait for the Promise

[Jesus] commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." ~ Acts 1:4-5 (NKJV)

For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.
~ Habakkuk 2:3 (NKJV)

At one time 500 people saw the risen Jesus. Only 120 were waiting in the upper room. Where were the others? Why did three out of four disciples not wait for the Promise? Were they not included in the invitation? Did they file away slowly over the ten days of waiting?

Noah entered the ark filled with animals and waited seven days, on dry land, before the rains came. Moses spent forty years as a shepherd in the desert before he met a burning bush. The Jews waited centuries for their Messiah to appear and establish a kingdom—and most still wait.

God often uses times of waiting to refine faith before He acts. When it seems nothing is moving forward in our lives, it is a time to pray and prepare for what God will ask of us. When He does move, He is entirely unpredictable and completely reliable.

Father, Your ways are good. Your timing and Your mighty acts are perfect and wonderful. We are not patient people. Please speak to our hearts and show us the way we should go and the way we should wait. Please lead us not into temptation, but through it, as Your Refiner's fire.

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