Scripture: Luke 24:48-49 and Acts 1:4-5
Journal: How big a part of your everyday life and mission is waiting on and
listening to God? In what ways, or in
what areas, are you prone to charge ahead rather waiting for his leadership and
direction? What does it look like in
your life to wait for the promise of the Father?
Reflection:
I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency
in life to charge ahead rather than to make space and listen to what the
Spirit would have me do and say.
It is a ready, fire, aim mentality that can leave me in
situations where I’m frustrated and burn out if I’m not careful. That’s why I really need to pay attention to
the way Jesus sent out his disciples, so that I don’t make the mistake of running
off and trying to change the world in my own power and strength. Jesus doesn’t blow the bugle and yell, “Charge!” Instead, he tells his disciples to stay in
Jerusalem and wait. Wait until he sends
his Spirit to direct and empower them.
We would be wise to do the same.
The first movement of
mission, it would seem, is to wait on the Lord. It’s all over the pages of Scripture: from
Moses shepherding in the wilderness, to Elijah sitting by the brook, to Jesus
spending 30 years in a carpenter’s shop and then being led by the Spirit into
the wilderness, to Paul going into Arabia.
It would seem that God knows our tendency to charge ahead, and so he
takes us aside first to make sure we are listening to him. That’s because mission is more about joining
something (or Someone) than about manufacturing something. I would do well to remember that.
Prayer
Closing
Prayer: O Lord, our God, help us always to wait on
you, and resist the urge to move ahead before we have heard your voice and
received your wisdom and direction. In
the name of your son Jesus, we pray.
Amen.
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