God’s Waiting Room
By Pastor Kevin Sadler
"Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord" (Psa. 27:14).
The
half-joking prayer, "Lord, I need patience, and I need it RIGHT NOW,"
isn't too far removed from how we approach matters of spiritual growth
and living out the will of God in our life. Life is full of waiting:
waiting for your phone to charge; waiting in line at the grocery store;
waiting in a traffic jam; waiting for a job; waiting for the right
spouse; waiting for test results; waiting to be old enough to drive.
Steve Farrar of Men's Leadership Ministries says, "Waiting is like
eating gravel. Nobody in their right mind wants or likes to do it."
Waiting is difficult.
The
culture we live in is one that doesn't like to wait. We like instant
and fast everything--instant downloads, instant messaging, instant
coffee, instant prints, fast-food restaurants, faster internet, fast
phones. However, there are many times along our journey through life
when God says, "Wait here." And what looks like 15 minutes turns out to
be 15 months, or even 15 years.
The
Bible provides numerous examples of people who waited on the Lord.
Abraham waited for decades to have the son that God promised him. Joseph
had to wait in prison. Moses waited for 40 years on the backside of the
desert, tending sheep, before leading the children of Israel out of
captivity in Egypt. The Israelites then had to wait 40 years to enter
the Promised Land. Simeon waited for the birth of the Messiah. Paul
waited during his time of preparation in Arabia.
Waiting
is a part of God's plan and purpose in our lives, and resisting God's
timing and trying to get ahead of the Lord can have serious
consequences. Abraham and Sarah found this out when they ran ahead of
God, with Hagar bearing Ishmael instead of waiting on God's promise
(Gen. 16).
God
works while His people are waiting. Time is not wasted in God's waiting
room. Waiting on the Lord renews our strength (Isa. 40:31). God often
uses these times of waiting to prepare us for what lies ahead. Oswald
Chambers writes, "We are apt to think that everything that happens to us
is to be turned into useful teaching…We shall find that the spheres God
brings us into are not meant to teach us something but to make us
something." In those waiting times, God both teaches and makes us
something; in us He cultivates patience, Christlike character, and hope
as we trust Him through those times. As we read in Romans 5:3-5a,
"And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: and hope maketh not ashamed."
Les Feldick Ministries
30706 W. Lona Valley Rd.
Kinta, OK 74552
Posted By Cecil and Connie Spivey
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