Tuesday, 18 August 2009

• Wait Training

         Last week I went on a trip to the boundary waters in northeastern Minnesota. It was absolutely amazing.
  There was one lake that was huge compared to the rest and it was extremely windy. The waves were so big on the lake that we didn't dare try to cross it in our canoes. So we waited for the wind to stop.
         We all just wanted to keep going, we still had a lot of energy left and we didn't want to stop now, in the height of our success. But we couldn't risk flipping over our canoes in the high waves. So we waited and waited.
           After Jesus ascended into Heaven they obeyed God's command to go and wait in the upper room for what He was going to do next. Can you imagine that? Ken Hutcherson puts it this way, "after all the promises, after all the miracles, after all the great, amazing events, God was telling them to get together in a room and wait patiently for what He was going to do next!"
  
  So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, ^(A)is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?"

  ⁷He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which ^(B)the Father has fixed by His own authority;

  ⁸but you will receive power ^(C)when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be ^(D)My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and ^(E)Samaria, and even to ^(F)the remotest part of the earth."

  Act 1:6-8 NIV

           The people gathered in the upper room were impatient and they wanted action done NOW (vs.6). But then, God set them straight (vs.7-8). He wanted them to wait for His timing.

               Many times in our lives we keep saying, "Lord can't you just do this now, why do I have to wait." We want the answers, the miracles, the signs, the knowledge, the resources, we want it all NOW! We forget that we need to wait for God's best.

              Finally, around 2 a.m., the lake was safe to cross. At first it was kind of creepy when you looked straight ahead into the unknown land covered in darkness. But then I looked up to the sky. It was filled with millions of beautiful stars. There were so many falling stars that night, it was absolutely amazing. Then dawn came and we saw the amazing sunrise that God had been saving for us to see.
            Because we waited for the right time I will forever treasure the memory of crossing a motionless lake with the beautiful stars of Heaven above.
  
  in His grasp,
            JD
  

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