The Waiting Game:: Another look at Pentecost

Have you ever received a promise from the Lord? Perhaps it came through prophecy or in prayer. Well I have, and I know all too well the reality of carrying a specific promise from the Lord. Waiting can be emotional, frustrating, discouraging and sometimes daunting... if you allow it to be. 

I reflect on this past Sunday’s Pentecost Celebration, as christians from all over the world joined together in celebrating the coming of the Holy Spirit. Many wear white in their celebration ritual. Others sing songs like “The Comforter has Come”, as we did at LIFE Church. We usually hear from Acts 2. However the coming of the Holy Spirit didn’t begin in Acts 2 with the “sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind.” It began with a promise.

In Luke 24, Jesus tells His disciples “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.”  This was the promise that the disciples received and would have to carry in their heart. Here we extract 3 life lessons.

If you’ve spent any time in the pentecostal church, you’ve heard of the term tarrying. It is mostly associated with an extensive time of prayer, pleading and asking God for the Holy Ghost. But it simply means to WAIT. Waiting can be one of the most difficult things to do. If you’re like me, and you have moments of anxiety… waiting can be a hard thing to do. Which brings me to our first point. 

The promise will come to those who [are willing to] wait.
Once God speaks a promise to your life, you must WAIT and remain willing to wait for the manifestation of that promise.

Word + Waiting + Manifestation= The pattern of God ... Get used to it. Your prayers won't change it. Your temper tantrums won't change it. Your emotions won't change it.  IT'S HIS WILL. 
“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalms 27:14  Waiting in this regard isn’t merely passing time. I equate this wait to a waiter in a restaurant. As a waiter WAITS, he is serving, laboring and is active. This is how we should wait in the Lord. “Serve the Lord with gladness.” Worship the Father. Stay prayerful and fervent. And most of all ANTICIPATE (which is an active word.) Anticipate the manifestation of the Father, and all the lessons that come before it.
The scripture in Psalms 27 tells us to “be of good courage” because it is easy to be DISCOURAGED during your waiting process. Don’t become bitter and angry. Don’t allow your thoughts to cause you to doubt God’s promise. Plant yourself and be sure of His word. Let nothing move you in your waiting.

The promise will come to those who are focused! 
What is interesting is that the upper room started out with 500 people ... but somewhere between instructions (the promise) and manifestation, it dwindled down to 120 people. 
380 people left the promise and the instruction to tarry (wait). I’m almost certain that they didn’t leave quietly. Surely some people complained… Remember people leaving is not always a bad thing. Time has a way of trimming the fat, separating those who like the promise from those who really want the promise. You don't need a LOT of people... you just need the RIGHT people. Don’t allow CROWDS and people to shift your focus. Whether the people around you believe the promise or not, keep your focus on what YOU heard God say. Don’t allow the wrong people to get in your ear. 
Not only can waiting get rid of the wrong people, but it can also get rid of the wrong attitudes, thoughts, ideas in your own heart and mind. When you can’t see what’s ahead (the manifestation) pay attention to what God is trying to teach you in the moment. In my own life, I have had to wait on a promise from God. I know the feelings of immediate excitement… then the feeling of discouragement because you haven’t received anything yet… and then the feeling  of embarrassment “…here I was believing God and I don’t have anything yet… Perhaps I was too zealous.” … and I even know the feeling of frustration. But in my waiting, I’ve learned that the wait has a way of making you better. You learn to quiet the voice of the enemy. You learn to control your emotions and ultimately you learn to TRUST the Father. 

You can trust God because He will ALWAYS keep His promise. Which takes us to our last point. 

Pentecost is PROOF that God keeps His promises. God is not a liar.
The scripture says in Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”

If you grew up in church like I did, the saints would say “God said and I believe it!” It really is as simple as that. When God speaks a promise, He makes a bond or a covenant with Himself to fulfill it. Pentecost is proof of that. The Lord said He would send the Holy Spirit… and He did just what he said.

Don’t neglect your wait! The scripture said after they waited for 50 days, “SUDDENLY there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind” which we know is the incoming of the Holy Spirit. Be assured that there is a “suddenly” ahead of you. Maybe you don’t have it right now… but tarry a while. WAIT on the Lord. Soon you will see with your eyes, that which you carried in your heart.

Author

D. Denard Jones, LIFE Media Group Director | LIFE Writes Writing Guild