The disciple's prospect was that on the set time, the promised
Holy Spirit would come and endue them with power from on high. Whiles they waited in the maternity ward (Upper Room), all doubts were erased from their minds. They were not afraid that, after all, their supposed belief was not a true one, for Jesus had proved it by His ascension to heaven.
So, their eyes were looking toward the opened heavens, and somehow, they hoped, if not quite a persuasion, that He who was to come would come. And so, though the Holy Spirit tarried, they all, with accord in prayer, tarried for Him. The behavior of the disciples is equally applicable to every Christian when we come into some personal waiting period, even if not exactly of their kind. Whatever it is that we wait on God for, He will surely come.
It is applicable to every child of God who has been laboring for Jesus Christ in any district which seemed strikingly barren, where the stones of the field seemed to break the plowshare. Still believe on, beloved; for very often, the most unfruitful soil will perhaps repay the Christian after a while with a hundred-fold harvest.
The prospect may be uncertain, but wait; for the promise will come no matter what.
Their Posture
The disciples were in the Labor Ward like soldiers on guard waiting for the actual labor time. It was almost time for their delivery; how could they occupy themselves until their water would break and the Baby (Holy Spirit) would come? Well, they had to wait in the Labor Ward (Upper Room) with patience and endurance as long as God had appointed it.
Whatever contractions and labor pain were yet to come, whatever strong cramping in the abdomen, groin, as an aching feeling, they had to bear them all. A parturient woman does not leave the labor ward and go home because she feels pain or the baby is delayed. At the least, her life falls in the hands of the physicians, yet she remains at the hospital. Thus, the disciples in the Upper Room patiently waited.
Like the parturient woman, the disciples remained hopeful in watching for the hour at which the baby would begin to drop. They kept their eyes towards the opened heavens and looked for the first grey sign of the coming of the Promised Holy Spirit.
While the disciples patiently waited and watched, they maintained patient endurance and hopeful watching. They were in one accord; hence they gave each other mutual encouragement. They were like travelers who had been shipwrecked and, thus, gave each other a hand and said:
"Brother, Sister, Mother, Father, very soon the Promise will come after all."
It is, thus, not for any Christian to say they have waited for too long, and so they are quitting. Let us look for every sign of the promise appearing and be ever listening for the sound of His chariot wheels. As we await God's promises, let every Christian take hold of one another's hand.
