Yesterday, my husband read the Get Your Feet Wet post and said he felt the post lead him to more confusion. He feels we (he and I and our family) have been waiting on the Lord for a while and haven't had a revelation of direction. And I agree, we have, we have discussed where we should be and where we should serve without getting a sense of direction for a long time. And to him, for me to say those verses could mean either move ahead and get started or wait for the Lord leads to further confusion. And I can see that. However, I think it is the perspective of "wait" that presents the confusion.
I really believe these thoughts are from the Lord. Yesterday, I prayed that God would lead my reading outside of my normal study, and Joshua 3:8-10 is where I ended up (see yesterday's post). Today, I prayed for guidance as well, and Luke 24 and Acts 1 and 2 validated to me the notes from yesterday.
After Christ was crucified and resurrected but before the Holy Spirit was given to the disciples, Christ instructed them to wait. In the "Great Commission" (see Luke 24:44-53) when the resurrected Christ appeared to the disciples, he said in verse 49 "And behold, I am upon you; but you are to stay in the city [Jerusalem] until you are clothed with power from on high." That underlined word "stay" in the KJV is "tarry", which according to Strongs (get ready this is interesting!) is an active form of the Greek word kathezomai, which means "sit down". The root word in kathezomai is kata, which denotes intensity. That could seem confusing as well - to actively and intensely sit down, but I think there is definitely meaning in that. The disciples were instructed to wait, but this was not an instruction to do nothing! In fact, it was a time of great intensity and activity as they worshiped and prayed and prepared for what the Lord was about to do, and we know this was a time when amazing and terrifying things began to happen for these Christians.
So, lets look at what the disciples did with that instruction to wait. In verses 52 and 53, this is right after Christ instructed them to wait and then ascended, it says about the disciples "And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising God." Skipping to Acts 1, verse 12 starts at the place with them returning to Jerusalem, where they were instructed to wait. And they did, but not passively. According to verse 14, they were of "one mind, continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers." So they prayed as a family and as a group of people all focused on Christ, I imagine very intensely. As the chapter moves on, they chose leadership, they discuss Old Testament prophecy and how it is fulfilled and they commission an additional member of their core group. This wasn't a time to do nothing! This was a time of getting ready.
Then, in Acts 2, they were again together for Pentecost. The Passover was 50 days ago according to my commentary, so they have been waiting on the Lord for a while, but still devoted and focused on prayer and still connected. Starting verse 1 they are all together in one place and (verse 2-4) "Suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting....And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit..."
They didn't know when the Holy Spirit was coming or what it would direct them to do, but they devoted themselves to study and pray and worship until it was revealed, and the result was it was revealed mightily to them! This was the beginning of extraordinary purpose and duty for these people. From here, Peter, the denier, becomes the great preacher. They are given gifts to speak and to perform miracles. Others join their service, including Stephen, who was stoned to death and Saul, the killer of Christians who later becomes Paul who becomes a great missionary/preacher/church leader and who even writes numerous books of our bible. They continue to proclaim the gospel to all people, not just the Jews, and even though they are arrested, beaten and most of them martyred for the things they proclaim, they continue and ultimately set the path for Christianity.
So, I agree with my husband that it does seem confusing to say scripture said to either get started or wait, but in my opinion, to wait is to get started! It is to begin devoting ourselves to prayer, worship, and study and to start actively seeking Gods will for us, not passively waiting for something to just happen or appear when we are not looking for it.
Another interesting note is after Christ appears to the disciples and tells them to wait in Jerusalem and ascends, Acts 1:10-11 says "And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky?...." I think our problem is we have been waiting passively. Like the disciples, we have been just standing here "looking up into the sky". It's time quit standing here just gazing and begin to wait actively in intense prayer and worship and seeking of God - kathezomai!!
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