Tena tātou katoa e te iwi mīhana… (Greetings to all the people in mission)

This month’s whakataukī (proverb) is: “E noho e, kia raungāwari.”  (lit. settle down and be flexible). This proverb is commonly interpreted as ‘sit and bide your time’.

As a follower of Jesus, I interpret it as something like a cross between “patience is a virtue” and “be still and know that I am God”. In other words, ‘Chillax, God’s got it sussed’. For me that usually involves grabbing my guitar and pouring my heart out in psalm-like lyrics onto a blank page. But oh, don’t we more often prefer to be men and women of will-filled action, setting and pursuing grand goals?! My doctoral prof’s favourite saying was, “Go, make it happen!”, but life is not always that simple.

I love Biblical scholars’ interpretation of the Hebrew understanding of waiting in Isaiah 40:31 (Those that wait on the Lord) as meaning an active abiding, in expectation of the next wind of the Spirit that carries us forward. Isaiah 40:31 is echoed by Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30 where rest is found in being yoked to Jesus. As we settle down in Him we are carried along by “unforced rhythms of grace” (The Message version), and our time will come, in His time. Like the bridesmaids of the parable (Matthew 25:1-13), however, will we be found at that time with enough oil in our lamps?

In recent months I’ve been exposed to many ‘prophetic’ pronouncements that anticipate significant things on the horizon. Perhaps more than any other time in my experience of charismatic-oriented Christianity. The 70th anniversary of the re-founding of Israel, the blood/supermoons with king tides, the ending of an era with Billy Graham’s ‘promotion’, earthquakes, dramatic evidence of climate change, wars and rumours of wars, all seem to be converging as signs in the heavens of some great importance.

We can so easily get caught up with trying to interpret such things, attempting to define what God is doing, that we forget what God has already told us: wait, trust, be ready to move. I imagine active waiting to be like pre-modern soldiers preparing for battle, honing their combat skills and sharpening swords, until their marching orders come in. In a general sense, we have ours: ‘get out into the big wide world and help people everywhere become disciples of me’ (Matt 28:19a, paraphrased), and we each have specific roles to play within that general purpose.

Whatever we’re doing now is mere preparation for something significantly larger.

We all have particular skill-sets and talents/gifts and we all need to master our craft as we’re going about the business at hand, flowing in God’s unique rhythms of grace for us. I can’t shake the sense, however, that whatever we’re doing now is mere preparation for something significantly larger than anything we’d ever expect.

Our time on this side of eternity may be a training ground for creative responsibility on the other side, but I do wonder if the global Church will be thrust onto a fresh wind of the Spirit that’s about to blow across the earth. My point being, will we be ready? Will we be ready to respond well to what the world needs today in our respective contexts?

As we ‘wait’, let it be in active preparation for when ‘our time’ comes, and when it comes let’s move together. In the meantime, in whatever God is calling you to do, #stayonmission. 👊🏼

Ma te Atua e manaaki koutou (may you all experience the very best things from God),

Jay