Some of my prayers are answered quickly and sometimes it feel like my prayers are bouncing off the ceiling. I have a couple of requests that I feel are struggling to push through the clouds... the clouds of my frustration, doubts and fears... into the throne room of heaven. But the truth is, God does hear my prayers and he does answer them. I am confident of that.
Sometimes I just have to wait.
"I wait for the Lord,
my soul waits
and in his word I hope".
Psalm 120:5
I used to hate waiting rooms... until I had kids. Now, when I have a doctor's appointment, I make sure I go alone so I can take advantage of the opportunity to sit still and rest in the quietness while I wait. (Note: this does NOT apply to trips to the pediatrician... that is more of a test of survival rather than of patience!)
Maybe God has us in the waiting room.
It's here, in this quiet place, where we have the opportunity to make choices as we wait:
Will we allow anxiety to destroy us?
or
Will our trust and patience be strengthened?
Will we allow our character to be shaken and torn into pieces?
or
Will we allow our character to grow into who God created us to be?
Will we try to take control and fall flat on our face?
or
Will we depend on God and his perfect timing as we get to know him more and more each passing day?
I am finding that the longer I have to wait, the more the anticipation builds. Maybe God knows that I will appreciate and cherish the very thing that I have been longing for so much more than if it were just handed to me at my command. Maybe he knows that as I wait, I will make the right choices... to come to him, draw close to him, lean on him and grow stronger as a result. Even when I feel like God is silent... he is at work.
I am thankful for the waiting room.
I am thankful for the waiting room.
Below is a link to a song that has encouraged me on my journey.
Waiting… is there anything harder to do? I would rather be told to scale Mt. Everest by myself than be told to "wait"… The irony is that every time the Lord's directive was to be still, the lessons, growth, and blessings proved more significant than any I could have gained from visible action... I concluded that waiting is the most vigorous and worthy activity of my Christian walk and that waiting is not the act of doing nothing - quite the contrary - waiting is the act of doing trust and conviction and hope and faith…. It may never "feel right" to wait, but it always "proves right" in the end…. "Wait for the Lord. Be strong, take courage in your heart. Yes, wait for the Lord." Psalm 27:14
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