God's Waiting Room

"I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure in the landscape, the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it--the whole story doesn't show."

Andrew Wyeth

Sitting. Fidgeting. Pacing. Twiddling. Occupying. Watching. Lingering. Doubting. Anticipating. Expecting. Counting. Wondering. It is a personal way. Different for different times and different people. Dreaded, even despised, by most, however, regardless of the joy or pain of the appointed purpose.

When my son called from Missouri and told me he and his precious family were coming for a visit the week after Easter, what joy and anticipation swiftly flew into my heart! I counted the weeks, reviewed the days, and impatiently suffered til that moment when at last, I saw their faces, held them all in my arms, and grasped and kissed my little grandchildren once again, almost four months having passed since last seeing them. My nest was full again. For one week.

I later dreaded the moment of their coming departure, the approaching quietness of our home, grieving, for our moments together had been rich, but few. Upon their leaving, I comforted myself with the future anticipation of seeing them again. And so began a new time of waiting. A new place of occupying. A new season of expectation.

It is not in our human frame to pleasure abiding. Most of us abhor standing in line, waiting for our doctor, spending time in a drive-through, having to build a savings for a want or need, sitting at a red light, occupying ourselves before the server brings our dinner, watching our watches while we watch for loved ones, wondering when the surgeon will appear, worrying about the happenings behind a closed door, hoping for the miracle for which we've long prayed. It's unpleasant. Uncomfortable. Undesirable. Even. . . miserable.

Yet, God designed the waiting time. He who spoke the world into existence did so in six days, choosing to craft His creation over time, when in one fell swoop, God could have done all in a single breath. Later, God chose that Abraham and Sarah wait for His promise. And again, hundreds of years ahead, the Israelites had to wait for their deliverance, while God hardened Pharaoh's heart and demonstratively proved His own mighty power, that He alone was God. The people of God were tested, too, as they had their waiting time, anticipating the Passover, standing at the Red Sea, and wandering about in the wilderness.

And in due time, when Israel had a perverse king, David was anointed by Samuel, chosen by God as the new one to lead His people. Providence reigned. Yet, rather than becoming immediate ruler, David found himself running from a mad, jealous Saul, hiding in caves and dodging spears. God ordained David's waiting time. Just as He ordained His own Son's. Just as He ordained the disciple's, telling them to wait til they received power from on high. Just as He ordained the Apostle Paul's time of waiting, of imprisonment, of persecution, of the unknown.

Throughout the scriptures, time and again, God's people were ordained waiters. Called to abide. Chosen to linger. Commanded to obey. Without natural hope. Without seeing God with natural eyes. Without assurance from a natural world. Without hearing with natural ears. But, . . . with the promise of God's word. With the vision of His glory. With faith in a covenant-keeping God of love. With the knowledge of the One who is faithful, true, holy. With spiritual ears that propelled them to believe. With understanding that eternity is real. God's people waited. Because He asked them to wait. Simply because God asked.

And He still asks. Us. You. Me. All Christians everywhere are called to wait. To have faith, vision, obedience, trust, and hope, when we don't understand. When God's word seems scarce, but stress is abundant; when we feel alone and helpless, and there is no earthly comfort. When we wander around in our personal desert, with no apparent clue to direction, no map to provide escape, no one to phone for deliverance, God asks us to abide.

Isaiah 30:18 speaks of God's waiting room. "Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are those who wait for Him." We are chosen for God's waiting room that we may be blessed. And that He may be glorified.

For waiting involves faith, hope, and trust. It proves our love and dedication to God and our walk with Him. Through our patience and obedience, God is proven worthy, faithful, omnipotent, glorious, for His ultimate deliverance shows Him gracious. Then, God is exalted! Our faith in Him brings Him glory and honor! And because we have honored God and brought Him glory, He blesses us.

God shows us mercy because of our obedience while in His waiting room. The Hebrew word for mercy means favour, to stoop down with kindness, to bestow, and to implore, or to move to favour by petition, the petition of our faithfulness during our waiting. And do not forget His word to us in I Corinthians 10:13, which tells us that God will not allow us to go through more than we can bear but in all circumstances always makes an eventual path of escape. And again, by Isaiah 40:31, we know that all who wait on God will be renewed, strengthened, like a mighty eagle that soars, our faithfulness to our Lord brings to us new life, edification, maturity, and power to face future issues in life.

I pray for each of you today. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that you will be edified and strengthened. That you will rise on eagle's wings to a place in God that will give you strength, wisdom, peace, wholeness, and new life. May God bless you this weekend, meet your every need, and give you the desires of your heart. Remember, He loves you with everlasting love.

Scripture is from NKJV