Faithful in the Waiting

Reading : Luke 19:11–27

“Well done, my good servant… 

because you have been trustworthy 

in a very small matter…” 

Luke 19:17

As Jesus approaches Jerusalem, the crowd expects immediate glory. Instead, He tells a parable about waiting. A nobleman departs, entrusting his servants with resources until his return. The kingdom, Jesus suggests, advances not through spectacle but through stewardship. Each servant receives the same mina; the difference lies not in what they are given, but in what they do with it. William Barclay observes, “The tragedy of the servant was not that he did wrong, but that he did nothing.” Fear buried opportunity. Lent gently confronts us here. Are we investing what Christ has entrusted to us, or quietly hiding it?

Scripture sharpens the call: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much” (Luke 16:10). Faithfulness in small things prepares us for greater responsibility. Matthew Henry reminds us, “God keeps an account of what we receive from Him, and of what we do for Him.” Lent is not merely about avoiding sin; it is about active obedience. Time, gifts, compassion, influence — all are minas placed in our hands. The question is not how much we have, but whether we are faithful. As Paul writes, “It is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2).

Donald Coggan wisely said, “We are not spectators in God’s kingdom; we are participants.” The Christian life is lived in the in-between — between promise and fulfillment, cross and crown. Good people are not dramatic achievers; they are steady stewards. In this Lenten season, Christ calls us to quiet courage, to invest love instead of burying it, to act in trust rather than retreat in fear. Every unseen act of obedience, every hidden kindness, every faithful prayer becomes seed in the soil of God’s coming kingdom. When the King returns, He will not measure our prominence but our faithfulness — and even the smallest mina, entrusted back to Him in love, will shine with eternal significance.

Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Teach us to be faithful with what You have placed in our hands. Deliver us from fear and awaken us to courageous obedience.

May God bless us,that in us may be found love and humility, obedience and thanksgiving, discipline, gentleness and peace.

May our lives bear fruit that honors You, now and when the King returns.

Amen.