Waiting. It’s something we are all used to. Wherever we go, whether it be Starbucks, Mcdonalds, the doctors office, or an amusement park. There are lines, a waiting room with chairs (which always seem to be as drab and dreary as possible), and there is waiting. Sometimes our wait is only two minutes (thank you Mcdonalds) but other times we have to wait a little or maybe a lot longer than we like. We have been waiting in those horrible waiting rooms since before we can remember. So, here’s the thing, I don’t know if you’ve been there yet in your life, but God has a waiting room as well. Yep, it’s true. We all have times, seasons, years upon years, in our lives that we are faced with something and so we begin to pray over that situation and pray some more, but some time passes and we don’t receive an answer from God. That may be a waiting room that we are sitting in. And just as you may get angry and frustrated from waiting to see your doctor or to get your coffee drink with two extra shots of espresso just to get you through the day, you may get tired and exhausted, maybe angry and confused, from waiting on God. But continue to wait. Because your not waiting to see a doctor or to get something from a barista or just anyone, you are waiting on God. And God is faithful not to leave us in His waiting room without fulfilling His promises to us.
If we look into the word, we will find many examples of God’s people who had to wait. Joseph was in God’s waiting room when he was thrown into a pit by his brothers, taken into slavery, then thrown into prison. He was in his pit for roughly 13 years from the time of being sold into slavery to the time of becoming overseer for the king (Genesis 40). Abraham waited a long time in God’s waiting room for a child. He was 100 years old when he received his promise which was Isaac (Genesis 21:5). So you see, as we know, God has no time meter. Time means nothing to Him. Therefore, our timelines have a hard time lining up with his nonexistent timeline. But it is in His timing that all promises come to pass. God gives His word in a promise to us in Mark 11:24 when He says: Therefore I say unto to you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. But let us not overlook that middle piece, When ye pray, that is the key. We must continue in prayer, or conversation, with God in order for our promises to come to pass. Though at times it may be hard to believe, like when we are in the trenches of the waiting room experience and we’ve been there for a long while, God does want to bless us and will keep His promises to us.
We see this is true from the word in 2 Chronicles 16:9, For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. God not only wants to perform blessings for us but He is eager to do so (God has a Waiting Room by Kim Haney). Now, you must know that in a waiting room there is always the gloom hovering over, like the sneeze of a fellow waiter, the enemy likes to impose upon our wait and try his best to bring us down. There are so many opportunities during this time that he can win you over because many times in our wait we tend to lose faith. When our faith goes down, so does our hedge that we have put up against the enemy. This is when the enemy comes in with his lies and whispers. He puts things into our minds, like our friends who continually receive blessing after blessing while we are waiting still empty-handed. Let me tell you, the enemy is good at his job. He can twist and turn any situation and make you believe that he wants what is best for you. 1 Peter 5:8, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. But if we stick to the word that we have received from our God most high, we may keep our defenses strong against the enemy. Never believe the lie that you are not strong enough to take on the throws of the enemy when you have the word and God on your side. When darkness seems to be looming in your promise, that is when you fall to your knees in your quiet closet and let your prayers flow out into the silence. You may receive silence in return from the Lord, but don’t take that as God isn’t with you. He is always listening and always hears our cries. Psalm 34:17, The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. And then there is this beautiful reminder from God that should keep us steady, Romans 8:35, 38-39, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I don’t know where you are in your life today and I do not know what promise you have received from God that you are waiting on. You may be waiting on a child like Abraham, a job like Joseph, a calling, a healing, a friend, every waiting room with God is different and individually tailored to us. What I do know is that when God opens the door to your waiting room and says “I’m ready for you now” what lies beyond that door will blow us away. The blessing will be more than we could imagine or ask for. Keep strong, keep your faith in the hard times, renew your minds with the word and promises of God, keep the door of your heart and mind shut tight against the enemy, keep praying, and keep waiting.
He gives us Roots so we can Fly. Roots and Wings.
