One of the great riddles of being human is what to do with all the waiting.
We wait for the seasons to change.
We wait for our hurts to heal.
We wait for our children to grow up… then wait for them to return home.
We’re all waiting for something, and as my favorite rocker, the late Tom Petty, liked to remind us, “The waiting is the hardest part.”
Pay close attention to what’s happening in Luke 19, and you’ll see that while Christ’s followers were celebrating His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, they were waiting too. Verse 11 reveals, “As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem, and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away” (emphasis mine).
The crowds were following Jesus, expecting Him to bring an end to their waiting. They thought He would enter Jerusalem, exile the government that had been oppressing them, and establish the glorious kingdom He’d been telling them about. This is the moment, they must have thought, when all the waiting—for freedom, for peace, for victory—will surely pay off.
But Jesus wasn’t about to stage a coup. He was marching toward the cross. The crowd’s hopes and dreams for the establishment of Christ’s kingdom on earth would have to wait. (At least for the kingdom the way they had expected it).
Fast-forward to today. You’re still waiting too. So am I. We want to see God move in our lives. We want to watch Him come in power and abolish everything that causes us pain. Instead of wringing our hands and pacing the floor, what can we do while we wait?
“The whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen” (v.37). Though at this point the crowds still assumed Jesus was going to lead a military victory, they were right to rejoice over what they had already seen in anticipation of what was still to come.
The greatest indicator of what Christ will do is what He has already done. In every season of waiting we can join with the “multitude” of saints in declaring the victories He’s already given. The disciples had no way of knowing they were watching a preview of a future celebration of Christ’s triumph, when He will one day return in glory:
“Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and he judges and makes war with justice… The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen… And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:11,14,16).
Celebrate every promise you’ve seen Him fulfill, every victory He’s ever secured, every blessing He’s every poured out. They are the down payment for the moment when all of our longings will be fulfilled. May we worship while we wait.
Erin Davis is an author, blogger, and speaker who loves to see women of all ages run to the deep well of God’s Word. When she’s not writing, you can find Erin chasing chickens and children on her small farm in the Midwest.
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31 thoughts on "The Triumphal Entry"
I can’t wait for Jesus to return and to bring relief and refreshment. I also pray that I will be a faithful servant in the waiting.. I long to please God so much and sometimes I get weary and feel overwhelmed or lazy. I get stuck in a rut. Only praise and thankfulness can lift me out of that place and help me keep walking the narrow path. I pray I remain faithful for my whole life.
Waiting is extremely hard but I love how we can focus on the things that God in our life along the way :) today I pray that I take note of those things throughout the day.
Waiting on God
Luke 19 is so sharp in its messages and revealing in its truth, but we can admit that we sometimes experiences seasons/cycles like the third servant- holding onto the gifts that God has blessed us with afraid to use them to bring glory to His kingdom, stifled by the anxieties of life. This chapter reminds us that if we won’t the very stones will. If our we fail to be faithful with the little responsibility of winning souls, how can we be trust with more? And if we can’t be trusted our gifts will be taken and given to someone that has proved that they can.
So in waiting let us not forget our purpose, His promises and the miracles that we have seen take place in our own lives.
May we worship while we wait. – that is something I need to tell myself. But today I choose to see and appreciate what I do have instead of what I long for. I am greatly blessed with healing (not entirely there but so much better) from a disease, I have a job that provides for me financially and gives my day a meaning. And I am blessed with great parents, an amazing brother and a church I call my second family – thank you father – Glory be to you!
This hits home for me ❤️ love this.
I had a rough upbringing. We were so poor. My biological father couldn’t keep a job, and had a terrible temper, which he took out on my siblings and myself. I was the oldest, so I got the brunt of the physical and verbal abuse. When I was 15, I fought back, and my parents finally got a divorce. (My mother worked 70+ hours a week) I had grown up in the Catholic Church, and after the incident when I was 15, I began to denounce the existence of God. Why didn’t he protect me from that man? Why didn’t he change our situation? Why, why, why? I continued my life of unbelief in to college. I made all the wrong choices. And then one day, when I was asleep in the library (quite hungover from the night before), I met my now husband. He was a very Godly man. We talked for hours that first afternoon. I didn’t get any studying done. A few months later, I moved 700 miles away from my home to start a life with him. It certainly hasn’t been easy, but he introduced me to a pastor that managed to bring me back to God. He told me I was disappointed in God, which was so true. I had to wait a very long time for things in my life to change. I know it was all His plan all along. That’s why He never stopped pursuing me even when I had given up on Him. Don’t lose faith sisters!
Waiting is very hard.
What a great parallel between Christ’s entry into Jerusalem and his 2nd coming. Those scriptures breed hope. Thank you.
this was a great reminder for me today. i feel like the vast majority of my prayers are asking, and not really thanking god for all the wonderful things he has done for me.
today i’m thankful that all my loved ones made it to work safely with the weather, i’m grateful that my dad’s car issues have (we think!) been resolved, that i have exciting weekend plans ahead, that i have such lovely and supportive friends and family, that i am blessed with such sweet pets, that god brought my S/O into my life, and that i got a restful sleep last night for the first time in a while!
i need to make a note to do this more often, in addition to all my requests in my prayers. god provides for me in ways big and small and i’m so grateful! <3
I saw a different perspective this morning on the verse about not keeping silent— in light of the terrible decision in New York to “celebrate” killing a child up to day of birth—- we MUST NOT BE SILENT!!! Please speak out— God wants our voices to be heard!! Yes, we can pray— but we must also quit being silent!!
The waiting reminds me of the priests in Leviticus. They had been set apart but were not yet allowed to go into the temple where God was. Yet, they were set apart so they weren’t allowed to just return home. They had to dwell in the doorway between their home and the temple of God. I often find myself feeling like these priests- living in the doorway between two worlds.
I enjoyed your insight today Tina. I especially love it when you said “I am not where I need to be, but thank God, i am not where i used to be..Thank you Jesus.. Thank you.. Jesus, for everything..”
So many times I ugly cry out to the Lord “don’t give up on me” despite knowing He never will. Yes, sometimes waiting for the changes that I desire to take shape in my life leads down and bumpy and treacherous path that only Jesus can guide me. And I fall so often. This leads to the crying out. It’s when I pause to glimpse back that I see how far I’ve come,looking ahead shows how far I have to go, but looking beside me at Jesus keeps me focused on the day at hand. Amen to His steadfast, audacious love and faithfulness!
How we expect God to move is often guided by our own motivations and desires. Relevant to the reading, they were expecting Jesus to do one thing but he actually had something so much greater planned. I found this to be relatable to my own life in that I often expect God to move a certain way and do a certain thing in my life, but these are all things based on my will and not His. His plans for my life are so much bigger than my own, and I pray that we all remain close to that amazing truth today sisters!
Our waiting time can be our intimate time with our Heavenly Father. Using the time to pray, focus and love Him. Thank you God for your love
❤️
Waiting is hard. Waiting for a job change. Waiting to not be sick. Waiting for a family. Or waiting for peace about not having a family. But I can’t get so caught up in waiting that I’m not faithful with today. The James passage says we have no guarantee of what the next day holds. We may be waiting for something that never materializes. God calls me to obedience and faith today. With what He has given me today.
I’m so thankful to my LORD for bringing me this far. I’m done things I never thought I could. I’ve been to places I never thought it would be. I’ve even driven to places that this middle-age woman never thought she could do it by herself with her kids. To some that might not be a big deal but to me it was a big accomplishment. It’s all God. My once down cast face it’s now filled with joy. Do I have it all together? Is it all complete? OF Course not, but I rejoice in my Lord Jesus that it is HE giving me the strength to do what I do. I cannot, I will not do life without my Jesus. He is my strength. He is my all. Sometimes the results may not be what I thought they would be and sometimes that I may not even like them but I know that HE is in control and HE has my back.
He’s in the waiting..
Oh Holy Spirit help remember this.
He is faithful and true!
Thank you, Tina, for this. May you be blessed also.
I don’t much mind waiting. I don’t get upset usually when queues are long or traffic is slow. If the doctor is running behind, the delay gives me another page or chapter to read in my book. Am I remarkably patient? No. I’ve just learned over the years to be prepared that not everyone or everything runs on time, that flexibility is a quality worth developing. Of course it is easier to wait when the circumstances are not so critical, not totally unexpected. God repeatedly tells His people to learn to wait on Him and His timing and to do things His way. I read His promises every day to remind myself that He is trustworthy and that He works all things out. That’s not living with a fateful resignation but with a confident hope. Is that not what faith is? That doesn’t mean that waiting is easy. It’s often hard and yes, frustrating. But we know what a good Father we have and that He has the final Word for all things.
Well said Tina.
I love the featured verse in the picture today “If they were to keep silent the stones would cry out.” It reminds me of a line from So Will I “if the rocks cry out in silence, so will I.” Jesus evokes praise. Creation can’t help but sing about his worthiness and majesty, all day long, day in and day out because that is what creation was made to do. I heard this verse in the song and started thinking about what it means that the rocks cry out in silence. It doesn’t look like they are doing anything but sitting there, but… down at the atomic level, even in a solid, the atoms are moving, constantly vibrating, never still for a moment, singing out his praises because he is too great for them to stay still. Even though it may seem impossible that something like a rock could be praising God, down at their deepest core, their most fundamental part, they cannot be still for the wonder of their creator. Jesus will always get the praise, worship, and glory. The question we have to ask ourselves is, to what extent will we be a part of the grand celebration?
Waiting… how long have you got.. ???
I have been waiting since I was a little girl… for my daddy to come home from work.. for my mummy to come see me sometime..
For my school term to end.. for holidays to come.. for my daughter to arrive.. for a safe place for my child and I to go.. for life to change for the better for us.. for a liver to come to give my daughter hope of a life without pain.. for God to hear my prayers to save her…
I have been waiting for a zillion times and things..
But God…
He, though I waited, was already making plans, His plans, His will to be done…
I waited. He answered sometimes in ways I could never imagine.. sometimes at times I had almost given up.. sometimes when I was so low I could actually not see His gift of answered prayer…
I’m the early days of my walk with the Lord, I like the followers of old, thought in my walking with Him, the troubles, the pain, the struggles would stop, or at least not be as harsh.. I have learnt that that is NOT the way to think.. that is NOT the way it works.. and for sure NOT what the relationship I have with God works… Thank God!!!
But God…
He has gently moulded me on His bench..(still a work in progress) and where once I was blind and not understanding my role in our relationship, I now see that through Jesus’s gift.. His triumphal journey to and on the cross, His death and resurrection, I have a much better relationship and understanding than the flippant novice I was at the start of this awesome journey of grace love and hope… forgiveness and mercy.. I am not where I need to be, but thank God, i am not where i used to be..
Thank you Jesus.. Thank you.. Jesus, for everything..
Blessings sisters… every blessing for a great and God blessed weekend..
Making a list of my/our many blessings! Wonderful exercise and a reminder of God’s provision and faithfulness in our own lives.
Well said, Bessie! Thank you
“While I’m waiting, I will serve You” are lyrics to a cherished song of mine. I loved the reminder in the devotion that the disciples didn’t get what they expected. They wanted the long exulted without the Savior sacrificed. The prophets of old couldn’t see the valley of the church between the mountains of the two advents. While I wait here on this earth, I must serve Him and His kingdom
The last verse in our reading today jumped out at me. “So whoever knows the right thing to do and doesn’t do it, for him that is sin. “ James 4:17
I’ve been pondering the reading yesterday about the rich young ruler. In thinking about what God wants me to give up I thought about why Jesus told him to give up everything he had and give it to the poor. Jesus knew that this young man valued his possessions more than he did following Jesus.
I have to admit to you that I had become addicted to watching the news. It seemed innocuous enough to just have the news channel on during the day in the background to see what was going on. I felt God telling me to turn it off and focus my thoughts on Him. I didn’t want to. I resisted and even argued my case that it was okay. Finally I turned off the TV. It has been so freeing and not even all that hard. My point is that watching the news isn’t wrong. It was just wrong for me because it was taking time away from my Lord and focus in on other things.
Whatever takes our time and focus off of God and puts it on other things is wrong for us. I am realizing that if we become too focused on what to deny ourselves of we can become legalistic and proud. Maybe even too self focused. If there is something that God is calling me to give up He will make it abundantly clear. What I feel called to do is to spend less time time thinking about that and more time praising God and loving others.
Thank you all for helping me puzzle through this. You are all such an inspiration to me!
What to do with the waiting?
Remember what He’s done for me
Work – use my “minas” – talents, gifts, resources to be about Kingdom work
Be thankful that God has allowed me to be a part of His kingdom work
Worship and praise God for who He is, for what He has done, and for what He’s going to do.
Yes – trying to recognize the blessings I receive and be thankful for them. Something that seems wrong, bad or inconvenient at first look, was it a blessing when I look back? Was I thankful for it at the time, thankful later or never gave thanks?
James 4:17 – how many times have I seen someone in need and was “too busy”, “too broke” etc to help? Or have ignored an opportunity to show kindness?
Jesus came to seek and save the lost.
While He is away, my job is to use what He has left me with for Him.
When He comes, I will pave the path with praise.
Jesus weeps for what we do not know, because He knows great love.
Jesus is zealous to cleanse all sin from within us, where He lives.
He makes those strong who are wholeheartedly devoted to Him.
As the Lord wills, I will serve and love Him.
Good Morning SRT sisters!
Today’s reading hit home hard! I know i feel like I’m always waiting on something !
We must give thanks and prayers for the blessing or down payments already received!! (Which are MANY). Gotta keep sight on the end game, Gods Eternal Kingdom ! Love you guys! Have a blessed Friday!