What Waiting Reveals

New to the Space

by Rev James M. Armpriester, Jr 

Alignment Before Fire

DAY 4 — WHAT WAITING REVEALS

After the ascension, Luke writes:

“All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer.”
Acts 1:14

• No spotlight.
• No spectacle.
• Just unity and prayer.

• Waiting exposed their formation.
  • Before the cross — rivalry.
  • After the cross — fear.
  • Now — surrender.

Bonhoeffer wrote,

“He who loves his dream of community more than the community itself becomes its destroyer.”

That quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer comes from Life Together, and it is far more surgical than it first appears.

What Bonhoeffer Means

Every one of us carries an ideal version of community in our head.

• A church where everyone is spiritually mature.
• A prayer meeting where everyone is passionate.
• A team without ego.
• Unity without friction.
• Revival without repentance.
• Fellowship without disappointment.

That “dream community” feels clean, inspiring, powerful.

But real community?

• People are inconsistent.
• Prayer is sometimes quiet.
• Growth is uneven.
• Personalities clash.
• Leaders disappoint.
• Progress feels slow.

Bonhoeffer’s warning is this: If you fall in love with your ideal version, you will eventually resent the real one.

And resentment quietly destroys what it claims to want.

Why?  Because dreams require no humility. Real people do.

The moment the actual community doesn’t match the imagined one, pride whispers:

• “This shouldn’t be happening.”
• “They should be further along.”
• “I deserve something stronger than this.”

That posture fractures alignment.

Waiting exposes whether:

• We love the outcome…
• Or we love the One who gives it.

Do we want revival? Or do we want God?

Do we want influence? Or do we want surrender?

Do we want church growth? Or do we want transformed hearts — even if it is slow?

Acts 1 is a waiting chapter.

• No wind.
• No fire.
• No spectacle.
• Just prayer.
• Just unity.
• Just obedience.

And that’s where alignment forms.

So Waiting reveals whether we love God’s promises… or God Himself.

Disruptive question:

When nothing dramatic is happening spiritually, do you deepen… or drift?  Do you form or fall apart?

Concrete step:

• Reach out to someone where tension exists.
• Repair something small.
• Alignment is relational.