“And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.”
LUKE 24:49 (CSB)

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Some things are worth waiting for. 

The wait in this case was a month and a half. What a month and a half it was! Jesus showed up again and again rather unpredictably. He showed up to individuals like Peter (verse 34), to two guys walking away from the city (verses 13-35), and up to five hundred people at one time (1 Corinthians 15:6). 

When Cleopas (verse 18) and his companion who had been walking away from the city realized it was Jesus who had joined them on the journey and who acted as the host at their dinner, they hustled back to town. I wonder if Jesus looked Cleopas in the eye when he said, “stay in the city until you are empowered from on high”? The big event to come was going to take place in Jerusalem, not back home in Emmaus.

When God says, “Wait,” whatever he wants us to wait for is worth the time and effort of sitting still and staying in place. 

I am often like Jake in the movie Silverado. Once his brother Emmett creates a ruse that makes it possible for Jake and Paden to escape from jail, Paden asks, “What do we do now?” Jake replies, “We wait. Come on.” 

Our waiting often looks and feels like Cleopas and Jake. We say we are waiting while we are walking away. 

Here is a lesson best learned now: Never walk away from God in impatience. He is always worth the wait however long that wait may be. 

It was an uncomfortable wait between the crucifixion and the resurrection. It was another uncomfortable wait with 120 men and women in one room for days on end before the Day of Pentecost. Both occasions, however, were worth the wait. 

Some things are worth the wait. What are you awaiting today? Ask our Father in heaven for grace to wait. Ask him for wisdom in what to do while you wait. Prayerfully wait. Watch God turn your prayerful, educational wait into something better than you ever hoped.

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I will wait.

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Our Father, empower me to get good at waiting. Teach me in seasons of waiting. Grow me. Prepare me for what’s next. In your perfect timing, bring me to the moment of your perfect answer to what I am awaiting. Amen.