Waiting for the Right Moment

Scripture

 John 14:15-21

^15-16 “If you love me, obey me; and I will ask the Father and he will give you another Comforter, and he will never leave you. ¹⁷ He is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, for it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you do, for he lives with you now and some day shall be in you. ¹⁸ No, I will not abandon you or leave you as orphans in the storm—I will come to you. ¹⁹ In just a little while I will be gone from the world, but I will still be present with you. For I will live again—and you will too. ²⁰ When I come back to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹ The one who obeys me is the one who loves me; and because he loves me, my Father will love him; and I will too, and I will reveal myself to him.”  (Living Bible Translation)

Devotion

As someone who follows the liturgical calendar, I am always struck by the strangeness of the days between Jesus's Ascension into heaven and Pentecost.  The Church spends this brief period in a holding pattern of sorts.  The disciples know that Jesus has commissioned them to go out to spread the Good News to the ends of the Earth, and that he has promised to to send them a Comforter/Advocate to help them do that work.  And yet the Advocate has not yet appeared.  And so the disciples go back into Jerusalem to faithfully wait for the One that is to come.

Waiting can be difficult--especially when what we are waiting upon is important to us.  In the past Since starting this blog 14 months ago, I've gone through longs periods of waiting to see family...or to hug a friend...or to do all the things I wanted to try when I first moved to North Carolina.  I've waited for clear, consistent guidance on how to move forward.  My congregation has waited to return to indoor worship and to participate in events and ministries that have been put on hold.  And we have all waited for this pandemic to finally come to an end.  

All this waiting wears on us and challenges our faith.  It can makes us wonder if God really exists or if Christ has given up on us for some reason.  After all, if God was truly the loving and caring being that Scripture claims that God is, then how could we have been left to just sit and wait on our own like this? 

The Good News is that Jesus has promised that he will never truly abandon us.  Even when it looks like we are all alone, Jesus is still here in Spirit. And though we may not see or recognize him among us, Jesus is working through the Holy Spirit to provide us with comfort, strength, courage, and advice even as we wait for God to reveal where to go from here.  If we commit ourselves to obeying Christ's instructions during this time of "waiting," then we can be assured to be ready to act when it is time for us to go forth in Christ's name.

As restrictions ease and more people become vaccinated, our time of pandemic-waiting seems to be nearing its end.  There will, however, be other times when we have to wait for the time to be right or for God to show us where to go and what to do next.  Each time we go into holding patter, let us remember Christ's promise to always never leave us like orphans abandoned in a storm.  Instead, let us put our trust in the Holy Spirit, which is our comfort, guide, and friend.  With the Spirit to guide us, we can be assured that there will come a time when are once again on our way.

Prayer

Jesus, helps us to remember that you will never leave us comfortless.  In this time of waiting, we look forward to the day when we--like the disciples turned apostles before us--find the Holy Spirit within us sending us forth in your name.  Amen.