While They Waited

What is Godly waiting and what is it not?

Sometimes we think waiting is simply the space between where we are and where we want to be. But often, waiting is where God prepares us to carry what we asked Him for.

We pray for purpose, impact, wisdom, healing, breakthrough, deeper intimacy with God, and doors to open. Yet when the process does not unfold immediately, many assume nothing is happening. But God does some of His deepest work in the waiting room.

After Jesus ascended to Heaven, the disciples found themselves in exactly such a place… A place of waiting.

In the Book of Acts 1:4, Jesus instructed them: “…wait for the Promise of the Father…” He did not give them every detail. He did not explain the exact timing. He did not tell them what the encounter would fully look like. He simply told them to wait…

And they did.

Not for an hour. Not casually. Not half-committed. They remained. This is important because many people want the suddenly of God without the surrender of remaining.

Remaining in the waiting

But Scripture says in the Book of Acts 1:14: “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication…”

While they waited, they prayed. While they waited, they stayed together. While they waited, they remained positioned where Jesus told them to be. And perhaps that is one of the greatest lessons in waiting: waiting on God is never passive.

The upper room was not a holding room. It was a preparation room.

While they waited, God was forming something within them that would be able to carry the fire that was coming. Then in Acts 2:2-4, suddenly: “And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind… Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire… And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…”

The waiting room became the birthplace of fire. The people who entered that room uncertain, grieving, and hidden became people who carried boldness, power, wisdom, conviction, and transformation to the world around them.

And maybe that is exactly what some of us need to understand today:

You are not simply waiting for something to happen around you. God is doing something within you. Because sometimes the promise arrives quickly, but the heart carrying it still needs preparation. God loves us too much to release certain things before character, dependence, maturity, endurance, or trust have deepened within us.

What does waiting do in us?

Waiting stretches capacity. It teaches surrender. It reveals what is truly rooted in us. It teaches us whether we love God Himself or only the outcome we hope for. And although waiting can feel uncomfortable, Scripture shows us repeatedly that God meets people powerfully in places of surrender and expectation.

The disciples waited together. Not isolated. Not offended. Not abandoning hope…

Together.

There is wisdom in that. The enemy often tries to isolate people in waiting seasons because isolated people become vulnerable to discouragement, fear, offense, and hopelessness. But there is strength in remaining connected to Godly community while we wait. There is strength in praying together. There is strength in worshipping together. There is strength in reminding one another what God has spoken.

Because sometimes when one person grows weary, another carries hope for a while. Why do we tend to grow weary? Because we might be mistaking the waiting season for punishment, or think we have been disqualified? These thoughts are completely outside the character of God. When we think clearly, we KNOW this. So why do so many believe these lies?

The lies of the enemy

Every lie that the enemy introduces into your mind, heart, and life, is in direct opposition to a promise God has made over your life. Read that again… The enemy does not just introduce random things. He introduces those things that can stop us from walking out God’s promises. We have to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to us which lies we are believing. When the lie is exposed, God’s Spirit will reveal the promise God has spoken over us to counter that lie.

This is not something God will do FOR us. We need to take up our authority as Kingdom heirs, and stand on what Jesus did on the Cross. He paid the price. No lie has the power to keep us from walking in God’s promise! The lie only has power when we give it!

The lie says “I will never be able to speak in front of people. I am terrified of public speaking.”

The promise says “I have called you to speak to the masses, and I have anointed your mouth to speak My Truths with conviction and anointing.”

The lie says “Nobody ever notices me, I give and give and give, and nobody cares enough to see if I am okay.”

The promise says “My eyes are always upon you. Your giving is like a memorial set up in front of Me. I declare My Word in Proverbs 11:24a (MSG) over you ‘The world of the generous gets larger and larger…’ Your world is increasing, and nobody can care for you like I can.”

The lie says “I am worthless. I always end up making a mess of everything.”

The promise says “The worth of something is defined by its price tag – your price tag says The Blood of Jesus! Your worth is incomparable to anything or anyone on this Earth. I made you with a purpose, I gave you gifts, talents, ideas, skills… Walk in them, speak my Word, meditate on My Word, DO my Word – do not be afraid, be of good courage, and you will prosper in all things! (Based on Joshua 1:8-9)”

Can you think of any lies the enemy has been fooling you with? What is the promise God has given you? Counter that lie right now by speaking the promise of God’s Word over your life every, single day!

Becoming Poetry on Fire – Living the Word

So how do we wait well?

• Remain where God placed you unless He clearly instructs otherwise. Many people move prematurely because discomfort convinces them that stillness means God is absent.
• Keep praying while waiting. Prayer keeps our hearts tender and connected instead of cynical and hardened.
• Continue stewarding what is already in your hands. Waiting seasons are not seasons to stop growing, loving, serving, learning, or building. They are seasons to continue proving faithful with what God has given you and placed before you.
• Guard your thoughts intentionally. Not every thought that enters your mind deserves agreement. Replace fear with Truth repeatedly if necessary. Anything that is contradicting to the Word of God needs to be replaced by the Truth of the Word of God.
• Remember that preparation is never punishment. God is not delaying because He enjoys withholding good things from His children. Sometimes He is building roots deep enough to sustain the very thing we prayed for.
• Never give the enemy power. Spot the lies he introduces and immediately replace it with the promise of God’s Word over your life. You are His sheep, you know Him, and you follow HIM alone – you will NOT follow a stranger (based on John 1:27). Every lie the enemy brings, is a stranger in a Kingdom mindset. It is impossible to follow it.
• Continue building your Kingdom mindset by allowing His word to wash you clean daily, to renew your mind and transform you daily. This can only happen when we prioritise God, when we remain aware of Him during the entirety of our day and make Him part of every moment. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you grow in intimacy with Christ every, single day. He will do it when you remain.
• Be discipled and make disciples. There is accountability, growth and safety in being together.

Scripture says in Book of Isaiah 40:31: “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength…” Notice that waiting on God produces renewal, not destruction. Kingdom waiting strengthens us when we remain surrendered to Him within it.

Be a Wildfire

There are people all around us who are exhausted in waiting seasons. Some truly believe God forgot them. Others are trying to force doors open because they fear nothing will happen otherwise. Many have mistaken delay for rejection… The list goes on. I am sure you can add your own experience of your waiting season.

However, THIS is where we become carriers of Hope.

• Teach people that waiting on God is not wasted time.
• Help people understand that the upper room was not empty space before ministry began. It was holy preparation for what was coming next.
• Walk with people through waiting seasons instead of only celebrating them once breakthrough arrives.
• Pray with them. Encourage them. Remind them what God has spoken.

Parents can disciple children through this. Friends can strengthen friends through this. Leaders can build people through this. And maybe, most importantly, model it yourself.

– Model what it looks like to wait with faith.

– Model what it looks like to remain with expectation.

– Model what it looks like to trust without striving.

– Model what it looks like to stay surrendered without becoming hopeless.

Because people are watching how believers respond when prayers seem delayed. Let them see people who still carry peace. Still carry trust. Still carry worship. Still carry fire. Let.them.see.

The disciples waited together… and fire fell.

Your waiting season is not the end of the story.

It is the very place where God is preparing you to carry what comes next.

EMBRACE IT!

Do you know someone who needs to hear these Truths? There is nobody in this world who has not gone through waiting seasons. Share this blog with your friends, family and colleagues – this is how God’s Word will spread like a Wildfire through your entire region! Join the Wildfire community, and let’s do this together.

Subscribe to Poetry on Fire for YouTube at this link: https://youtube.com/@poetry-onfire?si=RvKOdD1NXa8uXwYe – Soon we will be spending time together face-to-face with live videos, seminars and whatever your heart desires. Let’s be Poetry on Fire TOGETHER.