"Wait"

I started reading Acts over the weekend for my personal/devotional time with the Lord. I'm excited to be thinking about the Holy Spirit empowering fresh mission as I begin a new school year. Chances are it'll take me 6-9 months to get through Acts. I look forward to that.

At the beginning of Acts, Jesus gives his disciples a critical command: "Wait." The Holy Spirit was going to come on them in power. It was the power that was going to propel Christianity from an obscure sect of a small ethnic group to the most globally-transformational movement in the history of the world.

Islam began with a sword. It was to spread by the sword in impressively powerful ways for its first century of existence. Not so with Christianity. Christianity was to be spread by the power of the Spirit. It gained power and prominence not through military conquest but by the death of the martyrs.

And so Jesus commands his disciples to wait.

I don't do well waiting. I hate it, actually. But last night as I began Acts I realized that this was critical for me. I lack peace so much of the time because I lack patience. I am often in a hurry, going from this to that. The tasks of each day feel important, feel like they demand me to move and not linger.

My life feels like it's going in high-gear. Baby number three is due in six weeks. There is so much to do before a new school year begins and then we have a baby that will take me out of the loop for a couple of weeks. Turning the calendar to August always pushes the anxiety and haste button in my soul.

So I need this word of waiting if I'm going to be sane over the next two months. Wait. A rather inglorious word to build a globally-transformational movement on. But there it is.

If I will not submit to the "wait" of my Lord then I will be crushed by the weight of my anxiety and burdens. These are my choices. I pray for clarity, wisdom, peace, and courage to choose the wait that will bless me and all those around me.

[Ed's Note: I'll be in meetings most of this week, posts will be as I can sneak away to get them in]