Waiting has never come easy for me.
During my freshman year of college, we took a quiz to identify our strengths and weaknesses. Unsurprisingly, my top strengths were “determined” and “achiever”. I’m a doer. Sitting still is difficult for me and always has been. There is a constant desire within me to be doing something productive at all times, to which my wife often has to remind me that sometimes it’s okay to relax.
In today’s Gospel, before Jesus was taken up to Heaven, He commands His disciples to essentially sit and wait. He tells them to “stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Can you imagine how difficult a task this must have been, especially given everything they just witnessed? In the last 40 days they had just seen their best friend murdered, rise from the dead, and now lifted up to heaven right before their very eyes! We know that at this point they were filled with such joy and excitement, and yet their next appointed task was to sit and wait. Imagine how eager they must have been to get out at once and spread the message! I know I would have been chomping at the bit.
While they sat and waited, they did not sit and do nothing. They returned to Jerusalem and “were continually in the temple praising God,” awaiting their appointed time. How often do we feel like we’re stuck in a situation that requires sitting and waiting? I know the feeling well. So many plans have not come to fruition as expected. Some of these plans are so far beyond my control that, for someone who is used to “doing”, it can feel very helpless at times. But this week’s Gospel message is a reminder that this time is not to be wasted. Jesus still calls us to use this time productively. He asks us to honor Him in the waiting, to praise Him constantly, and reminds us that this time can still be used for the benefit of ourselves and others, as hard as that may sound. Because, as He so directly tells us, “it is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by His own authority.”
So I pray today for all of us who must sit through the difficult times of waiting, not knowing when the wait will end. That we may all be reminded that Jesus already brought, and continues to bring, salvation to all those who eagerly await HIM.
Nick Balser is a finance professional, husband, and Texan living in Denver, Colorado. When not working or playing/watching sports, Nick and his wife love escaping to the mountains in their RV with their Cockapoo puppy, Sadie, seeking adventures of any kind.