In the Waiting

In the Waiting

Experiencing Resurrection: Part 7
March 24, 2026

Acts 1:1-14

While he was going away and they were staring toward heaven, suddenly two people dressed in white stood beside them.

They said, "Galileans, why are you standing here looking up at the sky? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you saw him go into heaven.

~ Acts 1:10-11

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Craig J. Sefa In the Waiting

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Quite frankly, we were tired of waiting. Jesus had spent three years telling us the Kingdom of God was at hand. We didn’t know exactly what he meant, but we had some pretty good ideas. No more Roman soldiers. No more poverty. No more suffering. With Jesus on the throne, there would be no more tears, no more pain.

After everything we had seen — his death, his resurrection — this Kingdom couldn’t come soon enough.

He told us to wait in Jerusalem until the promise of the Father was fulfilled. We had been with Jesus long enough to know that his definition of “soon” was often very different than ours.

So we asked him, “Lord, is this the time you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”

He said it wasn’t for us to know the times. What mattered was that we would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon us, and we would be his witnesses to the ends of the earth.

We didn’t understand. We thought the world would come to us. We didn’t yet know how wrong we were.

After he reminded us to wait, we watched him ascend into heaven. We stood there, staring into the sky, hearts aching. What now?

Two messengers said, “Why are you standing around staring at the sky?”

We were dumbfounded. What else were we supposed to do?

So we went back to Jerusalem and gathered in the upper room.

We waited…

And waited…

And waited some more…

But we had no idea what we were actually waiting for.

The room grew thick with silence. Some paced. Others prayed. The boards creaked under shifting feet.

We remembered the night in the garden when we failed to stay awake and pray. “We were too tired,” Peter said. “And our faith suffered for it.”

This time, there was only one thing to do.

We devoted ourselves to prayer.

We remembered the prophet: those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not grow faint.

None of us likes waiting. We are always looking ahead.

But waiting helps us see beyond ourselves.

Silence…      

Stillness…         

Waiting…

We were ready to build the Kingdom, but that was never his plan. If we hadn’t waited, we would have missed everything. When the Holy Spirit came, the world didn’t come to us. We were sent out.

We will spend much of our lives waiting whether we like it or not.  The least we can do is worship while we wait.

Devote yourselves to prayer.

Devote yourselves to worship.

Hurry up and wait on the Lord.

Rest or React?

Rest or React?

October 13, 2024
1 Samuel 13:1-14, 1 Samuel 15:16-29, Psalm 40:1-17

The very moment Saul finished offering up the entirely burned offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet him and welcome him.  But Samuel said, “What have you done?”

“I saw that my troops were deserting,” Saul replied. “You hadn’t arrived by the appointed time, and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash.  I thought, The Philistines are about to march against me at Gilgal and I haven’t yet sought the Lord’s favor. So I took control of myself[ and offered the entirely burned offering.”

“How stupid of you to have broken the commands the Lord your God gave you!” Samuel told Saul. “The Lord would have established your rule over Israel forever, but now your rule won’t last.

1 Samuel 13:10-14a

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Craig J. Sefa Rest or React

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Saul’s army was deserting.  The enemy was at hand and the battle would surely be lost.  He knew the people needed assurance that God would be with them, but Samuel, the prophet, had not yet arrived to make the appropriate sacrifice and dedicate their battle to the Lord.  So Saul did what any rational leader might do, he stepped up and did what needed to be done.  He offered the sacrifice to rally his people and call upon God’s help.  So what’s the problem?

Samuel shows up a few minutes later and is furious.  From our perspective, this might just look like Samuel is whining because he didn’t get his moment in the spotlight. 

If I was running late to a church meal after church because I was talking with someone, I as the pastor would be grateful if someone else blessed the food and got started.  But Samuel looks like the pastor who comes in late and pitches a fit that they didn’t wait on him or her to say the prayer, as if the pastor was the only one who could offer the blessing. 

On the surface, this makes perfect sense, but God was doing something very different in Israel.  God is trying to clearly establish a hierarchy of power different than any other nation had known.  Rather than the human king having the final authority as was customary, God is establishing a nation where the King is under Divine authority.  In other nations, a prophet could be executed for challenging the king, but in Israel, it was the prophet who would have the final word because it was the prophet who spoke on behalf of God. 

Samuel wasn’t simply throwing a tantrum for not getting to do his part in offering the sacrifice.  His anger reflected God’s disappointment that King Saul chose to elevate himself to a position of final authority, no longer accountable to the prophet, and by extension, to God. 

Saul suffered from a disease we all struggle with.  It’s been called “just-do-something-itus.”  In other words, we are quick to become impatient and want to act immediately.  We speak when we should be silent.  We make careless decisions instead of taking the time to study, to listen, and to discern a wiser course of action.  We react to the perceived danger in the moment instead of resting in the God who promises to stand with us in the fire.  We let our emotions take the driver’s seat and act out of our desire to be in control instead of a place of humility and surrender. 

We always have a choice. 

Will we react in our own strength or rest in God?