Week 9 (23 Feb - 1 Mar): The Seasons of Waiting

As we began our study of Chapter 1 of Acts (short for Acts of the Apostles, but some like to call it Acts of the Holy Spirit), we considered two important components of a spirit-filled life–waiting and empowerment.

Often, when we think about waiting, we think about sitting in a room of sick people while the doctor is busy with another consultation, or perspiring while a hawker is busy preparing someone else’s food. We wait because it is not our turn yet; someone is occupied with something else. And often we think of God in the same way–busy with something or someone else. 

As we reflected on our own seasons of waiting, it became clear that the waiting was not just wasted time between more important or exciting seasons. The waiting was an important season in itself. God was not putting us on hold because He was far away and busy working on something else. God was right there, present with us, busy working on us. These seasons of waiting often came with difficult pruning, refining, and surrender, but as Jonah demonstrated, we can still have faith that God is with us in our troubles. From the belly of the fish, Jonah prayed:

“In my distress I called to the Lord,

    and he answered me.

From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,

    and you listened to my cry.

You hurled me into the depths,

    into the very heart of the seas,

    and the currents swirled about me;

all your waves and breakers

    swept over me.” (Jonah 2:2-3)

Of course the God Almighty must be with us in our troubles! Maybe we can learn to see that the waves and breakers and depths of the seas which can so easily be seen as chaotic forces meant to harm us, are actually sent to us by God to answer our prayers. May we learn to embrace our seasons of waiting, of dryness, of pruning. May we learn to ask: “where is God in all of these?”

We read in Acts 1 that the waiting led to empowerment. Specifically, empowerment to be witnesses. And is there anything more important than being God’s witnesses? (Oh that was an actual question for you to think about. Please pause and think about it.) When we think of power from on high, we often think of the power to perform miracles, heal the sick, prophesy, or even multiply food. But what about the power to witness? The command that was given by Jesus was to “make disciples of all nations”. Witnessing is one of the foundational functions of the Church, and we have been empowered to do so. 

Our view of this empowerment, though, is probably highly influenced by our memory of Pentecost (which we will read about in the next chapter of Acts). Spoiler alert, there was the sound of violent wind, tongues of fire, and the first ever multilingual, unplanned gospel rally. We remember the dramatic moments like these. However, the power to witness is not just to speak boldly, with charisma and eloquence, accompanied by signs and wonders. These are all good, but one might argue that it is more important to witness accurately. It is the power to present the gospel faithfully.

As much as we pray that God will just give us the words, a right understanding of the gospel comes from the times we spend walking and waiting with God. That is where God gives us the stories to tell about Himself. That is where we witness the character of God for ourselves, before sharing it with conviction with other people. That is where we learn truths about the Kingdom of God that the world cannot and will not teach us. That is where our faith is formed, so that when the season for boldness comes, we can step out and share what we now know to be true.

The seasons of waiting and the seasons of empowerment go hand in hand. One without the other is incomplete.

Kegan (on behalf of RT1)