Waiting to Take Off

We here at the International House of Prayer live in a world where apostolic leadership is mentioned quite a bit. Last night in my class at Forerunner School of Ministry, we were discussing what it means to be an apostle - what it means to have apostolic calling and apostolic authority. Some of the students were expressing frustration that they knew they were called to be forerunners - to lead the way for a new generation to reach the world for Christ - but they were not being used. They were just sitting still hearing the same messages over and over and over, but never going anywhere. Then 1 Thessalonians came into the discussion. Paul stated that he had apostolic authority and could have made "demands" on the people of Thessalonica "as an apostle of Christ." (2:6) Instead, however, he chose a different route. He stresses a contrast. He uses 2 pictures that reveal his heart. He says that he treated them "as a nursing mother" and in that light he used words like cherish and affection and longing. (2:7) Then he leaves that image and moves to another. He says that he treated the people "as a father does his own children." (2:11) Here he uses words like exhort, comfort, and charge (challenge). And so we were able to see that God has us sitting on the runway -- holding us back -- keeping us from taking off -- until He has formed in us the heart of a nursing mother and a comforting father. Until we can view the people to whom we are called to minister with that kind of parental care, God will keep us waiting to take off. May we cooperate with Him so that we can step into the calling He has for us all -- to prepare the world for the return of the Bridegroom!