Waiting for Jesus, part 1: The Happy Crowd

And as Jesus returned, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him. (Luke 8:40 NASB)

In the preceding passage, Jesus had taken an exciting boat ride with His disciples, had encountered a terrifying and near-deadly storm, which He had quieted with a word, and had set the Gerasene demoniac free. Along the way, it appears, the disciples had quietly left Jesus to His work and headed back home. 

At last, He returned from his journey to find a crowd of people who had been waiting and watching for Him. We will soon see that some of those people were in desperate straits. A father was waiting for a miracle for his daughter, who was near death. A woman was gravely ill, and she too was quietly but desperately waiting for a miracle. What is clear is that both the father and the sick woman, despite their great need, were waiting for Jesus. They were not running around the countryside seeking any possible solution. They were waiting for the only One who could help. 

What faith they must have had! In the midst of their need, they recognized the One who could help, understood that there was no point at which their situation would become too difficult for Jesus, and they ceased striving and waited for God to move. The approach of the boat in which Jesus was traveling must have been a joyous sight! Jesus was almost there!

How easy it is to recognize our need for divine intervention but how difficult to wait for that intervention to come!  Our natural tendency is to take some kind of action, to "do something". In our fast-food, instant gratification culture, a willingness to wait has become rare, but it is a precious virtue. 

Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. (Isaiah 40:31 NASB)

It is the ones who are willing to wait who gain new strength, not those who rush about with despair. 

What about you? Do you have a need that only God can meet? Give it to the only One who can help and wait for His answer. Wait patiently for Him. 

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Link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/08/lessons-from-battlefield-failed-father.html

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The intent was to have a different terrorist group for which to pray this week, however the ongoing atrocities from ISIS/ISIL/IS demand that we continue to pray for divine intervention. There is not only an urgent need for transformation for them, but also an urgent need to pray for protection of those targeted by these radical jihadists and an end to their reign of terror.

 Their leader is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. To learn more about them and their goal of spreading radical jihad and sharia rule throughout the world, click here: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/08/radical-obedience-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi.html