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Key Bible Verse: "Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you what he promised" (Acts 1:4). Bonus Reading: Psalm 62:1–8

After Ernest Heming-way was wounded during World War I, the medical staff pulled 237 pieces of shrapnel out of his body. During his long convalescence, he observed that some fellow hospital patients were strengthened by this stressful waiting, while others were shown to be shallow and immature. In every case the waiting brought out the true character of the person.

From this experience Hemingway developed the basic story line for his novels. He'd put seemingly "good" people into difficult situations in which they were forced to wait—through times of combat, in anticipation of deadly bulls, or during long, despairing days adrift at sea. The waiting doesn't break people, he claimed; instead, it reveals what they're made of.

In order to be in tune with Jesus' mission in the world, we must be men of spiritual character. So during the waiting period we may find ourselves in, God has chosen also to wait and see, to discover what we're made of. Is He going to see cranky impatience? Or will He see a deep, confident peacefulness focused on settling for nothing less than the living water of the Holy Spirit?

—M. Craig Barnes in Sacred Thirst

My Response: Perhaps God makes us wait for the Holy Spirit because …

Thought to Apply: Perhaps this quiet yet unquiet waiting is the harbinger of grace, or perhaps it is grace itself. —Franz Kafka (Austrian writer)

Adapted from Sacred Thirst (Zondervan, 2001) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Lord, I trust You to act when the time is right. Give me the discipline to wait for Your time.

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