The Disciples Wait
While everything that the disciples had hoped for and imagined might have seemed to be lost on Good Friday, by the third day Jesus had triumphed over death and had risen.
The women had to wait until Sunday to visit the tomb with burial spices. Mark’s gospel tell us that they went to the tomb at the crack of dawn and expected the stone to be in place. They were worried about who would roll it back for them.
They were not expecting the tomb to be open, Jesus’ body gone and an angel telling them, “He isn’t here—he has risen victoriously! Look! See the place where they laid him.” (Mark 16:6 TPT)
Jesus appeared to the disciples on a number of occasions after he had risen from the dead. When he finally left them, he instructed them, “Don’t leave Jerusalem, but wait here until you receive the gift I told you about, the gift the Father has promised.” Acts 1:4 TPT
Waiting in our lives
Waiting requires patience and trust. It requires the ability to resist the temptation to rush ahead and to act hastily without considering the potential consequences of your decision.
For the disciples waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit resulted in a new empowering and enabled them to proclaim the good news of the gospel with signs and wonders.
Waiting can be hard. Yet in the times of waiting, I have often found that God can be at work in my life, in ways that I may not see at the time, but which become clearer later on.
This week sees the anniversary of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s death in 1955. His prayer never fails to encourage and inspire me to keep waiting and to keep going! You can read the full version here
Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages………
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.
The past year with its Lockdowns and restrictions has put life, as we knew it, on hold. It was been a season of pause and change. A season of waiting…..waiting for restrictions to be lifted, schools to return, businesses to open, for the ‘R’ rate to fall, etc.
Pause and Ponder:
- How do you respond to waiting?
- What do you discover about yourself in times of waiting?
- What are the blessings and the challenges of times of waiting?
- In what ways have you seen God at work in your life in times of waiting?
Read and Reflect:
Take a few moments to read the following verses slowly three times. See which words or phrases resonate with you today. Then spend a few minutes pondering on your chosen verse or phrase or word. Be open to what God will show you through it.
I am worn out, Lord, waiting for you to save me; I place my trust in your word. Psalm 119:81 GNT
Meanwhile, the Eternal One yearns to give you grace and boundless compassion; that’s why He waits. For the Eternal is a God of justice. Those inclined toward Him, waiting for His help, will find happiness.Isaiah 30:18 VOICE
And now there is waiting for me the victory prize of being put right with God, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day—and not only to me, but to all those who wait with love for him to appear.2 Timothy 4:8