Grocery shopping with a friend or a parent can be fun sometimes. What is not fun however—and perhaps stress-inducing—is their decision to go back for one last item, as you stand in line at checkout. There’s usually nothing quick about it; you’re constantly looking over your shoulder to see if they will magically appear. Each grocery item’s journey across the conveyor belt is a reminder that the person you’re expecting is almost there.
Jesus instructed his disciples to wait too. They knew why the Holy Spirit was coming. They were to be witnesses not just to their immediate environment, but to the ends of the world. The assignment that Jesus started on earth was now theirs to continue, at an even greater level. This wasn’t a small assignment; it was a divine mandate that ordinary men could not fulfill. So they needed the Holy Spirit to endow them with power to carry out their calling.
The disciples were not waiting for a mythical being that may or may not show up. They were waiting for the Promise of the Father (Acts 1:4). Promises carry weight; it’s an assurance that a particular thing will happen. Imagine how much weightier God’s promise was to them? They must have been fully convinced that the Holy Spirit will surely come. So they weren’t just waiting; they were expecting. 
The moment Jesus ascended to heaven, the disciples immediately gathered in the upperroom, in prayer and supplication (Acts 1:12-14). They were not passively waiting or twiddling their thumbs. They gathered in one accord, to pray for however long. In Acts 2, we see that as God promised, the Holy Spirit showed up in the upperoom and transformed them permanently. That encounter with the Holy Ghost made ordinary men witnesses.
We as songwriters are not just creatives; we are witnesses. We are carriers of truth that spreads widely across communities, cities, and nations. So while the skill or art of songwriting is important, we can’t ignore the supernatural nature of our assignment. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, we are ordinary writers with catchy songs at best. Our talent alone doesn’t measure up to the weight of our assignment. We need the Holy Spirit, desperately.
So this weekend, we will wait. We are not anxiously looking over our shoulder for the Holy Spirit to come. We are standing on the promise of the Father with great expectation! Putting aside our experience and expertise, we will humbly gather in prayer, supplication and oneness, for the Holy Spirit to pour into us. My prayer is that we come in as writers, and leave as witnesses.