This is Lead in 10. I'm Chris Moore, and today I'm gonna ask you a question. How well do you wait? I'm not talking about waiting in line at a coffee shop or sitting in traffic. I mean the kind of waiting where you've prayed, you've prepared, you've done everything you know to do, and yet nothing is moving. God feels quiet and you start to wonder is he even working? Today we're gonna talk about how to wait on the Lord with expectation, not just as a follower of Christ, but as a leader who sets the tone for others. And we'll see how both Joseph in the Old Testament and the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane have a lot to teach us so. Yesterday in my small group Sunday morning,, with, uh, my teacher, great teacher, , David,, been my teacher for years, uh, now for over a decade. He is talking about Joseph and Joseph waiting and this so much got into my head yesterday. I could not quit thinking about it. I've been thinking about it this morning. Change kinda the plans that I had this week for this podcast. And so I wanna dive into this. First, let's start with Joseph's story. Joseph's story. In Genesis, Joseph had a dream as a teenager, a God-given vision of leadership, of influence, and yes, of his family bowing before him. And of course, this is what started, you could say Joseph troubles, but between the dream and the reality of it. There's years, there's long, hard years He sold into slavery, then he gets falsely accused and he's left a rot in prison. And then even when it looks like things are turning, like when he interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh's cut bear and his baker, he gets forgotten again. Two more years in a cell before Pharaoh's own dream opened the door. From the day Joseph first dreamed to the day he was promoted to second in command over Egypt, about 13 years had passed, and in that time period he's picked up from his home. He is thrown away by his brothers. He's thrown into prison and he spends most of this 13 years of time waiting. Waiting in situations that seem completely disconnected from God's promise. Now, fast forward to the New Testament. We're in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus takes Peter, James and John takes him deeper into the garden and he says, watch with me. And then he goes off away from them to pray and, and Jesus is in deep agony and when he comes back. They're asleep. This happens not once, but three times. And here's the interesting thing that stands out to me. Whether they were asleep or awake, they weren't gonna see what he was doing. They weren't going to hear his prayers. They weren't gonna see him in the distance. They weren't gonna see him crying. But Jesus still expected them to stay alert and to wait with him in the moment. To hold this posture of readiness, and I think, here's the principle that we find in these two stories. God calls us to wait with expectation, not because waiting itself changes his plan, but because the posture that we hold in this waiting. Shapes us for the plan. Think about the disciples here, Peter, James and John even just a little bit from this when, when he dies. He's resurrected and then he leaves and he says, I'm going to be back. And they've seen all this power, and yet we know what the disciples went through. And there was even some confusion at times because when a disciple died, their thought was, Jesus is coming back before we leave. That's what we thought. And yet, when by one, each one dies, Jesus still hasn't returned. And yet we see each one of the 12 still waiting with expectation. So how do we actually do this in real life, in our own leadership, whether we're leading a business, a team, our family, or just those around us that are looking up to us? Well, once again, let's look at four practical steps. We need to anchor our waiting to God's promises, not our emotions. We can get emotional, and even those of us who maybe are more reserved in public. We know our, we're emotional on the inside. Joseph could have easily decided his dream was just a youthful imagination, a fleeting thought. But he kept his hope tethered to what God had said, not how he felt in prison. I truly don't think Joseph was excited to be in, in prison. I do think he did things, to keep himself busy. To try and keep himself prepared, and that's where that waiting with expectation is. As leaders, when timelines drag on, we have to come back to what we know is true, that God is faithful. His timing is perfect. His ways are higher than our ways. We need to write down that vision that he has given to us the times that we were on the mountaintop especially, and remember those things when we're in the valley or those long periods of waiting, we need to keep it in front of us so that our waiting doesn't turn into drifting away. Number two, we need to stay spiritually and mentally alert Peter, James and John physically fell asleep, but I think it's a picture of what often happens to us spiritually. We get distracted, we go into autopilot. We know how this stuff is done, and we stop paying attention to what God might be doing around us that we don't even see. Staying alert. Though doesn't mean that we're working frantically doing and grasping at everything. That might sound like it's great. It does mean keeping our hearts tuned in asking what might God be shaping in me during this time? Who might he be bringing into my path right now? You know, if you never go down that difficult path, the one that you never intended. You'll never meet those people along the way that maybe your story and your faith and your vision can have the greatest effect on. For leaders, this is critical. Awaiting season can be a perfect training ground for the next chapter of our life, but only if we stay awake to it. Number three, we need to keep doing the last thing that God told you to do. Joseph didn't just sit in the corner of his prison cell and mope, he served, he managed, he interpreted dreams, he did whatever was in front of him with excellence, and that was part of what opened the door to him, to these individuals, to what became his ultimate promotion, his purpose, that God had put him there for not just to affect the kingdom of Egypt, but as his family came to save the Jews, to save the group. That God had intended to bless all of us with. Often God doesn't give us the next thing until we've been faithful with the current thing, and that's a hard thing to do. That means showing up, leading well, keeping our standard tie even when it feels like nobody's watching. Nothing is happening and things around us are falling apart. Number four. We need to teach our team to wait with expectation. We need to teach those around us, those that we are leading, whether it's just through influence, family, coworkers, or those that we do manage. This isn't just personal. It's something we have to model and mentor. If you lead people, there's gonna be times when you're all in a waiting season. Or maybe you frankly just don't know you. You may be waiting for a contract to close, waiting for a decision from leadership, waiting for results to show up. Or sometimes you're just waiting and you don't know exactly what you're waiting for. But if you panic, they're gonna panic. If you get lazy, they get lazy. But if you show calm, calm, trust, and you take per. Purposeful action. You're gonna shape a culture that can endure these slow seasons without losing heart. And we're all going to have that. I've seen this in churches countless times where things begin to look like they're going wrong or they're going slow or they're not just happening. And those that leave who stop waiting with expectation and doing what's in front of them while they're there, they miss out on the blessing. Or they totally derail it. One practical way to do this is to openly acknowledge the waiting. Don't pretend that it isn't happening. Name it, put it in the right frame and point to the expectation that God is at work, even when we can't see it. But there are some things we need to look out for. Don't confuse waiting with doing nothing. Sitting is not helping. Pouting. Having an attitude, there's always something for us to steward, something to learn, something to prepare, and sometimes what we're stewarding is just ourselves, our own emotions, our own faithfulness, our own learning to wait. And secondly, we need to be aware of trying to force God's timeline. Abraham and Sarah tried to shortcut this promise with Hagar that they were gonna have a child. And what ended up happening instead was it created generations of conflict. So this waiting may be hard, but forcing the outcome might be far costlier. So here's the hope. We see that God never wastes a waiting season throughout the Bible. Everyone who waits and waits upon the Lord, they get to that ultimate place. We see his ultimate plan. Joseph's years in slavery and prison were not lost. Not lost to him, and not lost to the people that he ultimately served. They were preparation for him. The disciples Long Night in Gethsemane was part of shaping them that would eventually make them, those bold witnesses, Peter, James, and John, we see this core group that becomes the core group of the disciples, especially in the early days of the church where they're getting their foothold. If you are in a waiting season right now, you may not see the purpose yet, and I've got to admit, I've been there. Many, many, many times. Little bit there right now if I'm honest. But that doesn't mean that there isn't one, that there's not a purpose in the waiting. So here's my reflection question for you. How is your posture in this waiting? Are you alert? Are you expectant? Are you faithful? Or have you gone to sleep? This week, choose one area where you've been passively waiting and try to shift into active expectation. Pray about what that means. Think about what active expectation means for what you are waiting on. Pray, prepare and stay tuned in. I'm Chris Moore and let's keep leading with love and truth, and I'll see you in the next episode.