Acts 2:1-2, 4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. . .All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. . .
Sometimes God doesn't move fast enough to suit me. I'm too impatient. I want to take control of my destiny. So I grab the oars and begin rowing the boat.
I came across a phrase from Max Lucado that has stuck with me: "It's much easier to raise the sail than to row the boat." Let the wind do the work. In our case, the Spirit wind.
The trick, of course, is that once you raise the sail, you have to wait on the wind. Perhaps you've raised it at just the right time to catch a gust, but perhaps the timing is off, and you sit still until the wind comes along.
Jesus's disciples experienced this phenomenon after his resurrection. They were told to wait in Jerusalem for the arrival of the Holy Spirit. Waiting. Not knowing what the Holy Spirit would look like. Just sitting around and trusting.
Finally, on Pentecost, the Holy Spirit filled their house with a mighty wind. The disciples' sails were filled, and the church was launched. Soon Peter was preaching the church's first sermon, and three thousand people became believers that day. Inactivity turned into a flurry of amazing results.
We must wait and trust. God's timing is not our timing. Preparations are being made even now, even while we sleep. I can imagine how hard it was for the disciples to wait, because I don't like waiting. But there are activities I can do in the meantime: drop the oars, raise the sail, and prepare myself for the moment when the Spirit wind blows.
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