On one occasion, while He was eating with them, Jesus gave His disciples this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.”

This past weekend was Pentecost weekend, a time when we commemorate the descent of the HolySpirit on the disciples as was promised by Jesus in the scripture above. It’s an exciting period in the christian calendar as it is the so called birthday of the church: the day when the first church was born out of the baptism of the HolySpirit.

It’s an occasion when believers today gather together with a desire for the same experience as that of the first disciples. Sure enough many of us live in the presence and power of the Spirit of God but only to an extent. We are limited by our fear, our sin, our low expectations, not to mention our tendency to be distracted from God’s work in us. Pentecost offers a chance to  ask the Lord to fill us afresh with his power.

Well, this year I was amongst those that were burning for a ‘pentecost encounter’. Therefore, I was sensitive in the midst of each of my weekend engagements, not wanting to miss out on the promised gift! I was going to wait on it and receive it!

As I sailed through my churchy engagements from one to another,  it was interesting to notice the difference, the keynote being time! In one of the meetings I attended, the believers were gathered together and just before the HolySpirit had been released (as everyone was pulling down His manifest presence with their expectation), the meeting switched focus to the next item in the order of service…:-(

However, in one of the other meetings I attended, it was the complete opposite. The congregants waited until the gift promised had come. When the HolySpirit descended, it is hard to explain what  really happened. Tongues amongst other gifts of the Spirit were released, people were out of control as the HolySpirit broke forth and took full charge, lives were transformed and empowered, there was such a freedom, such a joy: it was marvellous! Nobody really wanted to leave, we wanted more, more, more.

God is faithfully committed to honour His word, to fulfil His promises. What He says is what He does is who He is…! He also works with our expectations, doing exceedingly abundantly much more than we ask or imagine.

Thus, we must be totally patient, pressing in until the promise manifests; though it linger, wait for it, it shall surely come to pass!

We need to learn how to wait in these days where there’s a great temptation to rush everything. Let us not get caught up with the temporal things forgetting to keep the main thing, the main thing. Let us not tighten our corporate programs, leaving no freedom for the HolySpirit to set us ablaze. At the end of the day, without the HolySpirit, we are powerless. Powerless to bear witness to the people about Jesus, to save souls, to grow, to generally be effective in the ministry and the mission of the church.

Let us wait!

Acts 1:4-5, Habakkuk 2:3, Romans 8:1-11, Ephesians 3:20, Acts 2:1-45.