We Must Wait
Cover photo by Tom Morel on Unsplash
In charismatic circles—especially around Pentecost—you’ll hear a lot about waiting on the Spirit.
And of course this is a good thing.
As “the wind blows where it pleases”, so too with the Spirit (John 3:8).
We can’t control the Spirit. We only receive.
We can’t command the Spirit. We only submit.
We can’t coerce the Spirit. We only remain open.
We can’t conform the Spirit to our timetable. We must wait.
And Jesus called the disciples to wait for power from on high (Luke 24:49), to wait for the promise from the Father (Acts 1:4).
So we must wait.
But There’s Work in the Waiting
We don’t just sit in silence.
We don’t just sway with the music.
We don’t just spread out our arms expectantly.
Although those aren’t bad things.
What, then, is this work? you ask.
It is the work of emptying and filling.
We empty ourselves through confession.
Confession Of Sin:
We confess our own sin, turn in repentance, and receive the forgiveness of Jesus. When we empty out our lives of sin, and allow the cleansing love of Jesus to wash through us, then we will be ready for the Spirit of Holiness.
And we confess the sin of our people. None of us live in isolation. Sin is in us, and through us, and we must bear the sin of others as part of our confession (search “we have sinned” as a prayer of corporate confession to see that this a good thing, especially Daniel 9:1-19 a a model).
Confession of our need for God:
We must also confess our need for God. That we can “do all things through him who gives [us] strength” (Phil. 4:13). We must confess that all is a gift from God, that all is grace upon grace.
We fill ourselves with the things the Lord.
And before, during, and after being filled by the Spirit, we must be filled in the Lord.
Devoted to the Lord’s teachings. As the disciples were sent to make disciples (Matt. 28), they also devoted themselves to the teaching & the way of Jesus.
Devoted to prayer. As taught be Jesus, we must do the work of prayer as he taught us. This is the work inside the waiting.
Son and Spirit Work Together
Because the Son and the Spirit work together, our waiting should always do the same—seeking the Lord while waiting on the Spirit.
Or better, waiting on the Spirit is seeking the Lord.
There is no filling by the Spirit outside of following the Son.
There is no power by the Spirit without carrying the cross of the Christ (and it is so easy to be tempted to seek other powers than the one promised in Pentecost).
The Spirit of the Lord continues, extends, and fulfills the mission of the Son.
Let us, therefore, wait for the Spirit as we long for (and commit ourselves to) the fullness of the Son, so there might be “the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:23).
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