Day 83 - Led by the Spirit

Are you good at waiting? Are you good at listening? Are you good at taking notice of what you hear and acting on it? It can be difficult in our busy lives to take the time to wait, to listen and then act on what we hear, can't it?

I wonder if that is how the disciples felt as they sat in that room, waiting, listening and ready to act. After all they had experienced so much at Easter and after it. The sadness of thinking they had lost their friend and then the joy when Jesus was resurrected and met with them again. Then the times of sharing, on the road to Emmaus, on the beach, and so many more times that are alluded to in the gospels, before Jesus is taken back into heaven and they are left alone. Waiting. Listening. Ready to act.

Of course, before his ascension, Jesus has tasked them to take his message to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28),but told them that first they needed to wait in Jerusalem for the gift that God would send, the Holy Spirit (Acts 1).

And so they were waiting. Listening. Not sure how the gift would arrive, but knowing it would come, for Jesus had promised it. Not sure how they would act when it did arrive.

There they were all gathered together in one place when what they heard must have completely taken them a back! The sounds of rushing wind and the appearance of tongues of fire. The Holy Spirit has overcome them all, giving them gifts that seemed unbelievable and abilities they probably couldn’t have imagined. (Acts 2)

From here the disciples set out to share the good news with those they met, not just on that day of Pentecost, but on the days that followed as more and more people heard Jesus’ message and were baptized into the church. Acts 2 tells us it was 3000 on the first day alone. All because the disciples waited, listened and then acted ...

Surely this is an inspiration for us too. To wait, to listen and then to act. As we lead our busy lives, don’t let the commandment we too have been given to share the good news with others be put to one side, to be the thing we can’t fit into our lives or to be the thing we are too worried or scared to do.

Let us take this wonderful message of God’s love for us, Jesus' sacrifice for us, and the Holy Spirit’s gifts to us, out into a world which needs to hear it even more than ever.

Take time today to wait, listen and act – for if God is for us, who can be against us???

Catherine Booton