Patience is a virtue – and also a gift of the Spirit! And I have to confess, that I am not the most patient of people. I see an opportunity and I want it to happen now, because it feels so good… and my brain will shoot off in a 100 different directions in my enthusiasm to try and make it happen!
But this is not always God’s way, and sometimes He just wants us to wait and know that He is God. Thursday was Ascension Day, the day Jesus leaves His friends to join His Father in heaven… leaving them with the promise that He will return – “And it is not for us to know the times or dates”(Acts 1:6) So we are to wait for the full return of His kingdom, but the wonderful thing that we receive, is the Holy Spirit. And it is between Thursday and Pentecost Sunday (8 June) that we remember the waiting and anticipation of those early disciples for the advocate, the one who gives us power to be God’s witnesses to the whole of the Earth.
So we begin together with our brothers and sisters around the world a time of focused prayer through Thy Kingdom Come. This is a global ecumenical prayer movement that invites Christians to pray for more people to come to know Jesus. What started in 2016 as an invitation from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to the Church of England has grown into an international and ecumenical call to prayer. A time to pray for people to come to know God as their Lord and Saviour. As people who know God and follow Him, we want others to have that same reassurance and comfort, and it feels hard when people reject, or don’t accept the truth we have found. But this is where patience comes in. God knows. God hears. We have to wait for his timing. But we also have to play our part in sharing what we understand about our relationship with God and why it is so important to us.
Why we aim to live a life that follows Him and His ways. Because time does move on. Jesus will return, and our friends and family deserve to have the opportunity to choose whether they want to follow Him or not.
So please encourage people to try ALPHA, it’s a wonderful way to start the conversation and questions about our amazing and loving Lord.
Rev Natasha Thomas
