Last Lessons #34 – WAITING

“So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’  He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth’. And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’”  Acts 1:6-11

When I was a child, I couldn’t wait till Christmas morning.  I couldn’t wait till vacation time when I wouldn’t have to wear shoes.  Now as an old lady, I have to wait for someone to pick me up to take me somewhere.  I have to wait until my food is served in my room.  I don’t like waiting for any number of things.  

No one likes waiting.  I cannot imagine what it was like for Jesus’ disciples when they watched Jesus being lifted up and taken out of their sight by a cloud.  He was gone!  When would he come back?  They knew he had promised to return, but how long would they have to wait? Jesus had told them –

“Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”  Matthew 24:30-31

How long will we have to wait for Christ’s return?  Things in our world look so bad that we cannot imagine Jesus will not return soon to gather his own to himself and to judge the earth.  I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for Jesus to return.  I’m sure you are too if you are a Christian.  If you are not a Christian, you had better ask Jesus to save you from your sins now or else you will mourn when he returns.  And he will return!

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”  Matthew 24:14 

So while we wait, we (just as the disciples were told to do), are to be witnesses to the gospel to the ends of the earth.  Christians have different ways of witnessing to the ends of the earth.  For myself, when my husband died, I asked God what he wanted me to do as half a person and no longer able to travel.  God graciously and mercifully made it clear that even if I could not go myself, that I could send his Word to Africa.  So I started a 501c3 organization called RJBF (Rosemary Jensen Bible Foundation) to send out Bibles and Bible commentaries to the ends of the earth – especially Africa!  As of now, we have sent out more than 60,000 Bibles and 500 Bible commentaries.  If you want to know more, you can reply to this blog and I will give you my contact address.  

What are you doing as you wait for the Lord to return?  Are you witnessing somehow, somewhere?  I can assure you that if you pray for God to show you how and where you are to witness to his saving grace and his return, he will answer your prayer.  And you are not too old or too weak! 

“But they that wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:31