I've never been to a rodeo, but I've seen them on television. What I've observed is that there are short flurries of great activity in between long stretches of watching and waiting. The cowboy on the bull waits in the stall, adjusting the rope around his glove, checking the grip of his heels, adjusting his hat, checking the rope around his gloves again, smacking it down, tightening it more, muscles tense, senses heightened... waiting. The crowd is waiting as well. And while they are all waiting for the same thing -- the gate to burst open and the ride to begin -- they all wait differently. Those in the crowd eat their nachos, check their phones, talk to their neighbor, sip a drink, etc... They are waiting too, but their waiting is altogether different from the one on the bull in the stall.
We have the impression that waiting is a period of time where you aren't doing anything. We understand waiting as the period of rest between now and doing whatever it is you are going to do. Waiting, in other words, is not seen as an active thing, but a passive one. It is the word we use to describe the time between outbursts of activity.
But in the Bible, waiting is an active thing. It is preparation, it is obedience, it is faith and all of these are actions requiring focus and commitment. Waiting in the Bible is more like the cowboy on the bull than the attender in the audience. Both are waiting for something to happen, but the cowboy's waiting is working towards something, whereas the audience's waiting is watching for something to happen somewhere else to someone else. When the gate swings open, the audience member merely watches what plays out and either applauds or boos. The cowboy, however, is preparing to engage in active duty. But the waiting was part of the riding. To ride a bull is to wait behind a stall. In other words, in that kind of waiting, there is work being done.
In Acts 1:12 we see the disciples responding to Jesus' command to go by huddling up and waiting. They are not merely, like an audience member, eating popcorn waiting for the show to begin, making sure their phones are on silent as to avoid interrupting the action. No, the disciples are preparing for future action. They are actively waiting. They are faithfully staying put which requires just as much energy as meandering around, if not more.
That work in the waiting look like praying to God, pouring into community and preparing for future action. The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war. The time to prepare for the future is now. Until you know what's next, do what's last. Whatever you heard God say last, do that until you receive the next action step. There is never NOT an action step. You are always living in light of the last action step God commanded and preparing for the next one He will provide.
Waiting is work that looks ahead by looking back.
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