In The Waiting Room

“For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for Him.” –Isaiah 64:4

Everyone, at some point in his or her life, waits for something. The most important thing that we, as believers, are waiting on is the promised return of Christ and being able to spend eternity by His side. In our individual lives though, there are dreams, promises, and plans, that God has given us, that we are waiting for Him to bring to pass. During this “waiting period” we must understand that we have a responsibility. We are not to wait on The Lord by sitting around being inactive. No matter what season of life we are in, God has called us to continue to seek and share Him with this dying world. Doesn’t matter if we are in a season of lack or plenty, single or married, employed or unemployed, with transportation or without transportation, healthy or sick, with kids or without kids, or facing persecution. God has given us a responsibility to be the salt and light of the earth (Matthew 5:13-16) and wants us to bless Him at all times (Psalm 34:1). The Bible tells us “…With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26) and “…He makes everything work out according to His plan” (Ephesians 1:11).  To sum it all up, God is Sovereign and in total control of not only your life, but also the entire world. He has the power to change your entire situation around in the blink of an eye! So while God is working behind the scenes on your behalf, what are you doing? Are you throwing pity parties? Are you complaining? Are you allowing doubt and fear to rule in your heart? Or are you rejoicing, preparing, and trusting God?  Oh and just so you know, this blog is as much for me, as it is for anyone who reads it.

Last week, while I was studying the events that led up to the Apostle Paul’s trial before Caesar, I came across these questions, in my Life Application Study Bible:

What do you do when it comes to the issue of waiting on God? Do you become anxious? Angry? Discouraged? Few things test our patience and faith like being forced to wait-which perhaps explains why our Sovereign God puts us in situations where we have no other choice (Acts 24:27)

In Acts 23:11, God told Paul that He would preach the gospel in Rome, but He had to endure over 2 years of being held custody in prison first. During that time of waiting He didn’t complain, but instead saw it as an opportunity to serve God and share Christ with others. What may have looked like a problem and inconvenience to others, Paul saw a blessing in disguise.  If you read through Acts 23-28, you will see that Paul went through so much, in order to fulfill that call on His life. In the midst of it all, he never lost His hope in Christ and continued to believe that promise, until it came to pass. Once He did preach in Rome, it still wasn’t under the circumstances He may have desired, but nonetheless God was faithful to fulfill the vision.

After reading what Paul went through, during His “waiting period,” I decided to examine my own life. There are personally some things that God has shown me will happen and I don’t always do the best job at waiting. I think about all the days & nights I have wasted complaining, denying, crying, pouting, stressing, and/or worrying and I cringe. If I truly trusted that God was able to do all things, then I would be able to rest in Him. But you see I am flawed human being that has to continually renew her mind and cry out to The Lord to keep my eyes on Him, which at times is way easier said than done. I have to keep asking The Lord to strengthen my faith and trust in Him, because by nature I want to walk by sight and not by faith, when God has called us to “Walk by faith, and not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). We live in a world where “seeing is believing” but God has chosen us to be “set-apart” and instructed us “Do not conform to the pattern of this world…” (Romans 12:2). At times, I become so preoccupied with wondering how God is going to come through, when that’s not my job. I’m supposed to heeding His daily instructions and leaving the details of the future up to Him. By focusing on what I can’t currently see, I’m setting myself up to miss out on the beauty and goodness of the current season of my life. Truth is, every season serves a purpose.

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

God hasn’t placed dreams, visions, plans, and purpose in our hearts without reason, but instead is taking us through this “waiting period” as a means of development. Have you ever seen those car commercials where they crash the cars to prove that they are ready to withstand an accident and protect the passengers inside? Well The Lord has to test us, in various aspects, to make sure that we are equipped and will be able to withstand the fiery darts that will come are way. Many of those times when I cried out to God complaining or frustrated about going through various tests and trials, you want to know what His response was? “You are exactly where I want you to be, just keep trusting me!”  Not exactly the response I wanted to hear but it is definitely the response I needed to hear. Obtaining a promise from God is a process and typically He is not in a hurry. It's in that process that God prepares you for the promise; where He refines your character, builds your patience, renews your mind, and expands your trust and dependence upon Him, amongst other things. His timing is perfect and He knows exactly how long you need to wait, in order to receive what He has promised. WE ALL NEED MORE PATIENCE and what better way to develop that then when you are forced to wait on God. So God is not punishing you for making you wait, He has your best interest at heart and is training you for and equipping you to endure what is ahead. His is more concerned about the journey and end result then about giving us what we want when we want it.

Abraham is one of my favorite Bible characters because of His faith in The Lord’s promises and timing. In Genesis 15:5-6 we read:

“Then The Lord took Abram outside and said to him, ‘Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have’!” And Abram believed the Lord, and The Lord counted Him as righteous because of His faith.”

Fast forward to the New Testament and in Hebrews 6:15 we read:

“Then Abraham waited patiently, and He received what God had promised.”

I love this Scripture because not only did Abraham believe that God would fulfill His promise, He waited like he believed by being patient. It took YEARS for what God promised Abraham to come to pass and He died without even seeing all of it manifested, but He still trusted. Now of course, Abraham wasn’t perfect and made some mistakes along the way, but He didn’t allow time to weaken His faith.

“Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever He promises.” –Romans 5:20-21

That’s the type of faith that I want to acquire in God and His promises. We can’t allow time to make us doubt what God told us would happen. It's nothing to believe and have faith, in the beginning, but what happens when it's been weeks, months, days, even years and the promise still hasn't manifested itself? Our flesh has the tendency to be impatient and want to doubt and give up on the promise. Then the enemy loves to jump right in and make us think that we have missed God, because He knows that if he can get us to walk away from the will of God for our lives, that is one less person that will be impactful for God’s Kingdom. So don’t even give him a foothold and shut down those types of thoughts. Cling tightly to The Lord and allow Him to order your steps.

During the “waiting period” there are a few things (this is definitely not a complete list) we should remember:

 1. Do not take matters into our own hands:        

                                               

“Be still in the presence of The Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes.”-Psalms 37:7

 “The Lord will work out His plans for my life-for Your faithful love, O LORD, endure forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me.” - Psalm 138:8

 “Wait patiently for The Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for The Lord.” –Psalm 27:14

 “God’s way is perfect. All The Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all those who look to Him for protection.” –Psalm 18:30

2. The process of waiting builds patience!

 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” –James 1:2-4

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment…” –Romans 5:3-5

3. We must remain active and keep doing what is right!

“So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.”-Galatians 6:9

 “So do not throw away this confident trust in The Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that He has promised.”  -Hebrews 10:36

“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

4. Pray for accountability partners that can help pull you through and intercede for you on those days when you want to give up!

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.”-Proverbs 27:17

“A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” –Ecclesiastes 4:12

Just like The Lord had an appointed time for the Israelites to be freed from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 13:40-42), God has a set date for this season of your life to end. His timing is absolutely perfect!!! Even when it seems hard, He is still with you and promises never to leave nor forsake you (Deuteronomy 31:6). This season is strengthening you and pushing you to your limits, in preparation for what is to come. Don’t give up because others are counting on your obedience and ability to endure through this season. I don't know what God has shown you but His Word shall not return unto Him void (Isaiah 55:11). If The Lord has truly given you a promise then keep praying, keep fasting, keep believing, keep obeying, keep trusting, because we serve a God that is Sovereign!!! No matter what it looks like, God is able!

And remember, this season of waiting has purpose, so learn to enjoy it!!!

Until next time,

Cierra

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