“Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it” (Habakkuk 1:5, NLT).
Have you ever had to wait on God? Did you find it easy? What did you do while waiting? How long have you had to wait for something important. I read about a few of our greats that had to wait?
“Abraham waited twenty-five years before his wife Sarah gave birth to their first child.
Joseph slogged through thirteen years of betrayal, false imprisonment, and abandonment before assuming the leadership of Egypt.
Moses spent forty years tending sheep before God called him as a deliverer of His people.
David spent fourteen years before the throne of Israel would be his.
And in Jesus’s own ministry, he often told his disciples “My hour has not yet come.”
I don’t like to wait! Do you? Yet, the greatest things have come in my life when I chose the waiting room and not the emergency room of my way and forgot God’s way. Our scripture lesson from Habakkuk reminds us that God is in control and He is working behind the scenes whether we see it or not. Therefore, let us salute the words of James
to “let patience have her perfect work.” James 1:4
Some years ago I was so impatient as I waited for God to open some new doors of ministry for my husband and myself that I could hardly find any patience left in my being. Through tears of begging I penned a song that I so love to sing. “The Waiting Room” Just a line from this song still moves me today to wait and wait patiently. I would like to leave it with you if you find yourself waiting on God, as I am, even in this moment.
“There is a waiting in my room, There is a waiting my room
As I wait I see His face shining as a Glory of Grace.”
thedailylily.com 
In answer to one of your questions, no, I don’t like to wait. But thank you for the scripture and encouraging words above that underscore the value and purpose of waiting on God.
Hey, Debi, I was hoping you would tell me of some of the things you might find when you wait in the waiting room?
Thanks for the encouraging words of that song , Sara….’ THE WAITING ROOM.’ To quote some of the thoughts and phrases in this POWERFUL song:
“In His room there’s POWER AND FIRE for the cleansing of my soul~~~~”
“In His room there’s NO DOUBT STRIFE OR UNBELIEF~~~~”
“HE has set the captives free opened eyes of many to see~~~”
“I can see as His light has broken for forth in my soul”
Sara concludes…”Oh I waited in His room and the VICTORY has been won.That is why I must wait in His Room.”
Will we not be willing to wait in His room if all these precious promises are awaiting us?
Very encouraging. I heard one man say while he was waiting for The Holy Spirit to bring him a wife that he found every book he could on relationships and read to be prepared. Always a proper mode to waiting.
Another verse in Sara’s song that I find probably the most meaningful to me when I wait is “there is praise and much worship as I wait in His room…”.
It’s a time for me to remember to pick up my guitar and play and sing to the Lord.
Have you heard this before? “God answers our prayers and sometimes the answer is YES, sometimes the answer is NO, and sometimes the answer is WAIT.”
I’m sure you have heard this before….”Good things come to those who wait”.
When I read this blog, I began to think about what is in a waiting room, such as the emergency room. Usually magazines, televisions, water fountains, restrooms, chairs, etc. Lots of items to occupy someone, while waiting for the doctor. I believe Sara’s song, sums up what one should see or be focused on, while waiting on the Great Physician……GOD.
When I think of one waiting in the ER for a loved one or to hear a report about themselves I think of agony so many times in our being. Jesus must of felt that when He was in the garden of Gethsemane. Matthew 26:36-46 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here (wait) while I go over there and pray.” and then says,“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Wait here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed…Where are we when others are in need? Where are they when we are in need?
Thanks for the verse in Matthew 26, Sara. Read with me the footnotes for verses 37 & 38: “Jesus was in great anguish over his approaching physical pain, separation from the Father, and death for the sins of the world. The divine course was set, but he, in his human nature, still struggled (Hebrews 5: 7-9). Because of the anguish Jesus experienced, he can relate to our suffering. Jesus’ strength to obey came from his relationship with God the Father, who is also the source of our strength (John 17: 11, 15, 16, 21, 26).
Another song about WAITING is that famous chorus from Isaiah,Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly,
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
From this scripture I believe that as we wait upon the Lord we gain strength to continue our Christian walk, our conversation or way of life in Christ Jesus. Even when the going gets rough as Sara and Needles describe above. And we will run our course, our race for the prize of the high calling of Jesus Christ for our lives and we won’t faint if we will have the courage, the self-discipline, self-control to wait in His Room “till the victory has been won.”
From the song of Sara’s and the comments I see that waiting is not passive and often involves pressure before the change or newness or longed for result springs forth. Pressure for me is uncomfortable. It’s not comfortable having patience in a pressure cooker. I like how the message elaborates on the scripture above, “let patience have her perfect work.” James 1:4
“Hello! Faith Under Pressure
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.”
In reference to Debi’s post above: A sheer gift? Or, all Joy! OK, if we were to be obedient and do this we could really rejoice many days, don’t you think? Sure have got a lot of gift giving people in the church working out our joy and gift! Yah!
I think this scripture puts the topping on the vanilla sundae of James 1:4 “Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours”
(Isaiah 61:7, NIV)
That scripture promise and sundae analogy makes me think of that saying, “it was worth the wait”.
While in “The Waiting Room, ” I search and look for and draw near to God. The scriptures swell within my soul as a river swelling to overflow. Catch a glimpse of this river as it rises to crest.
“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever” (Ephesians 3:20–21, NAS)
Keep an eye on the “according to the power that works within us.” When we obey God He overflows the River.
You are so right, Debi, it is worth the wait!
I think you really punched a hole in the dam when you told us that once you’ve searched and looked for God, you draw near to Him. A lot of us can say we are looking and searching for Him but when we find Him do we draw near or run? I think finding Him often means confronting His holiness and our sin if I read James 4:7-10 right.
“So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.” Message
I have heard it said, ‘until you hit rock bottom’ you keep with your loves be them good or bad, right or wrong, moral or immoral, addictions or non. Enslavement or freedom. We get the idea the Apostle Paul was enslaved to Christ Jesus. He was a bond servant. He lived in freedom. He was a liberated man free from shackles. He had been en-prisoned and knew what it was like to live without freedom. But, when he was free he hitched his wagon to the freedom riders.
Sounds like he left his shackles or walls that once where against Jesus – crumbled at his feet and walked over and out of them into freedom that Jesus holds for each of us. Seems like while we are waiting God is working on us to pull down our walls (sin, wrong way of thinking) and step out with Jesus. It sure does take lots of prayer from one on one with God and the prayers and touch of the saints.
When we hit rock bottom we had better cry out to THE ROCK of our salvation. Jesus said, The stone which the builders rejected, is become the Cornerstone. Matthew 21:44. He is the ROCK
Another thought, Paul did call himself a bond-servant to Jesus Christ, addicted to Jesus, so to speak. And just like any addiction the “fix” in this case is prayer and waiting in His presence. Some of God’s children have spiritual ADHD. They have a hard time “waiting” in the Waiting Room. It takes self control (a gift of the Spirit), so we can ask for that gift of self-control and nurture and allow it to develop within us in our prayer life. But it’s easy to talk about it or write about it but it takes determination, steadfastness, a will to do it and diligence. Else it is all yak yak yak.
While in the “Waiting Room” God does not see my sins or my habits but He sees a woman. Why do I think this? Matthew 9:9 Jesus walked up to Matthew, a not so reputable tax collector, and The Word of God says Jesus saw a man and He said, “Follow ME.” Luke gives this same account and Luke says, Matthew left ALL and rose up and followed Jesus.
I see that Matthew knew and understood what he had to leave in the “Waiting Room” and what he took with him. Matthew brought something with him. What was it? His pen! How do I know this? He wrote the gospel of Matthew with his pen. What should I take with me out of the Waiting Room? O, yes, let me wait in His “Waiting Room” until I know what to leave and what to take with me.
Jesus sees me, now what do I see? Follow ME, Sara! Yes, Lord, and I will leave all and take with me my gift and follow YOU?
Did you ever sing this hymn?:
Chrorus:
“Follow me, follow me, leave your home and family,
Leave your fishing nets and boats upon the shore.
Leave the seed that you have sown, leave the crops that you have grown, leave the poeple you have known and follow me.”
From what you wrote Sara, it becomes clearer to me the importance of boundaries in our life. Blurred lines cause blurred minds and blurred lives. I recall reading about Esther that waited and took months of preparation and then was advised to take her gift and herself into the Kings presence in order to be accepted by him. Also read in Rev 14 that a requirement for those who follow the Lamb wherever He goes can’t take a mouth of deceit with them to the throne.
I don’t think I have heard that hymn but surely singing it would require action. Thank you for helping us see what the waiting room is about.
Just this morning I was doing a study about the Abraham’s servant who was on an assignment from Abraham to get a wife for his son Issac. He prayed to carry out his master’s assignment. God knew the servant’s obedient heart and God knew Rebekah heart. We know from later scripture such as in Samuel 16: 7 The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” He knew each to be obedient and God seekers/followers.
Rebekah’s brother and mother wanted her to stay 10 days or so with them. They asked Rebekah and she said she would go immediately. Once she knew where God wanted her she did not tarry. She was blessed by her family in Genesis 24 with being fruitful and protection from enemies, Action like Debi said was required – a moving into the unknown with God.
I remember a Pastor from my young adult life, Pastor Bowen saying, “The greatest ability in the world is availability.” We have to be available to wait in “The Waiting Room.”
Also, what Jesus sees as He gazes into the Waiting Room is a woman/man washed in the blood. You are right. He doesn’t see our sin habits if we have confessed our sin(s). Hebrews says, Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16)
Another thought…I thought about how we go to the doctor’s office when we are ill and “wait” in the waiting room, sometimes up to an hour or more for him to see us so that we can obtain something to obtain our healing of some sort or other.
In HIS Waiting Room the healing is already there, taking place in our hearts and minds and spirits and yes, even our bodies by what Christ has done on the Cross for us. By his stripes we are healed. We may not obtain healing the WAY WE THINK WE SHOULD, but we can trust and rely on GOD in the Waiting Room that HE will be just and merciful to us.
And while we are waiting in the WAITING ROOM, we render ourselves available to an Almighty God. Sometimes the doctor is NOT available, but CHRIST is, in the Waiting Room. JUST WAIT!!!!!
Isaiah 64:8 – But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. (KJV) Now, I vacation and take a trip and meet up with a woman of Samaria that I find talking to Jesus, a Jew. At a well of water of all places. But, even He delayed His human thirst and busy schedule while he prepared the woman at the well to leave behind her need of human thirst and drink from a well that will satisfy when her wretched life style leaves her thirsty and dry over and over again.
“The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city,..” John 4:7-10
What is a water pot mentality? Let us leave it in the “Waiting Room” and go and tell….When I think about that woman I get cold chills. She left her pot right in front of Jesus. Just left he and the pot. “Left” (Hebrew/Greek definition) cry, forgive, forsake, lay aside, leave, let (alone, be, go, have), omit, put (send) away, remit, suffer, yield up.
These days I keep waking up and having my coffee and walking over to the “Waiting Room.” I find that when I leave His Room and go back to my rooms I still have the old pot hanging on my mind. How do I know this? If I didn’t have the old pot just waiting for some old angry twisted person to fill it I would be able to tell them about Jesus and not them tell me about them. I see it is time to leave the pot at the feet of Jesus and stop filling it up and dragging it back to town and watering the dust while I become dry as gun powder dust. Yes, drink from a well that will never run dry or disappoint. Leave my old water pot behind so others can not fill my mind and me theirs with polluted water that will never quench our thirst.
You gave us a good ‘water quality’ test Sara with you writing on water pot mentality. I was thinking that there are labs and test kits available to us to test our streams, rivers, wells and tap water. If we suspect pollution, we know how to check first before drinking. It’s awful when you stop to think that we can’t, don’t or won’t check the flow from our mouth before giving out. I sure want to drink from a bubbling spring (John 4:14 NLT) from others because I feel refreshed and strengthened after and I sure want others to be able to drink the same from me. Lots of hope in what Jesus said and offered in your story above that we can have some living water.
Me, too
Sara, how I love that analogy of the “pot” that you gave above. That Samaritan sinner lady left that old pot, as you have written and went and told the ‘world’ about Jesus. She didn’t let the “men’ mock or resist her proclamation. She just told it like it was. AND… She didn’t need that old water pot anymore. She had found the FOUNTAIN.
Thninking more on what your adult life Pastor said, Sara, “The greatest ability in the world is availability” and the waterpot account. If Jesus had not …”delayed His human thirst and busy schedule while he prepared the woman at the well…” He wouldn’t have been available for her needs. What an example of being available.
By definition, available means: “that can be used” “that can be gotten or had; handy.”
Not only did Jesus make Himself available but He used the woman’s old water pot, used to haul water from a public well down dusty streets to become symbolic to convey the message of Christ, in contrast, the Fountain of living water. It reminds me of the Scripture “The LORD will write in the register of the peoples:
“This one was born in Zion. As they make music they will sing,
All MY FOUNTAINS ARE IN YOU” (Ps. 87)
Looks like from Needles definition that in order to be available one must always be in the correct location, state of readiness, preparation and accessibility so that we can be ‘had’ when the call comes or opportune moment arrives.
I think that might be what Paul means when he says in 2 Tim 4:2, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
Whatever the situation, look for an opportunity to express to others ‘the hope that is within you’. We can do it with our favorite restaurant, song, clothing store, movie, book, but when it comes to telling about the Lord Jesus Christ, it seems ‘mums the word’.
“in order to be available one must always be in the correct location, state of readiness, preparation and accessibility so that we can be ‘had’ when the call comes or opportune moment arrives”……..Debi, thanks for your “picture of words”, on availability.
Footnotes from your scripture in 2Timothy, MG…….””We should always be ready to serve God in any situation, whether or not it is convenient. Be sensitive to the opportunities God gives you. Paul told Timothy to ‘correct, rebuke, and encourage’. It is difficult to accept correction, to be told we have to change. But no matter how much the truth hurts, we must be willing to listen to it so we can more fully obey God.”
I need a refresher from some attendees of The Daily Lily 2010 summer retreat. Did it start out with the woman at the well leaving her pot/pitcher and going and telling. Maybe giving us the idea of leaving our daily chores to place the telling and doing for Him as a high priority?
I am always looking for a refresher from our last five retreats to see if I have been walking out what I learned. Or, have I learned?
I recall from The Daily Lily retreat 2010, “Designs of One’s Heart”, that we were instructed in the final chapter to look outward to the harvest fields..for they are ripe. That is…go and tell. The title of the chapter was “Autumn Proves Us”…which it certainly does to see if we have gone and told that others may be added to His kingdom.
In The Daily Lily retreat 2010, “Designs of One’s Heart” you don’t mention the woman at the well directly but when you talk about strolling through the garden, HE walks with me and talks with me that is what He did at the well. Later in that same lesson you talked about the difference in an artist and being artistic. The woman at the well was artistic as she saw and heard and was immediately prepared to pay the price for change putting her (old life) pot down and going to tell others
about the her new life and receiving living water. As in Spring her old cracked pot (bulb) brought forth a woman of beauty (a life of Jesus, rebirth as in Spring forth).
Sorry about the artistic. She was an artist. Artistic is one who has not art or design in him/her but relies on what he knows rather than what he can learn.
I think maybe while we are waiting in the WAITING ROOM we are not just hanging out doing nothing. Ps 27: 14 says, “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. We are strong so that we can WORK for Him. We need that strength to carry His work on while we wait for His voice.
Ps.37″7-9 says, “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not yourself in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth.
So while we are waiting we are ceasing from anger and frustration, and anxiety, putting those aside while we wait in the waiting room.
And Isaiah 40:31 says, “But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.
So while we are waiting, we are running and walking and not being weary and not fainting. We are busy in the Waiting Room . Yes, we are waiting upon the Lord for the next directive and we are aware of His presence and His voice but we are staying in place in expectation . We are stationary in readiness or expectancy. We are to attend as a servant. We are to supply the wants of. (miriamwebster)…”As I wait I see His face shining as the glory of grace, as I wait, as I wait in His Room” __sm (c)
Today, I took a trip down memory lane and reviewed the last five years of retreats held by http://www.thedailyliy.com. I not only looked but communicated with the Spirit of God by reminding Him how much work by so many had gone into these retreats. Such beautiful, creative and spiritual flow has been experienced by so few. I thought am I so simple that it does not take much to please me? Why, are there not others that love the simplicity of our retreats? Why, were we not able to connect to others and grow? I have no answer. It’s a waiting in His Room.
“My hope and goal in holding retreats had been to help others come away for a time of refreshing and find some new tools to help transition through the stages of life. As the pupal transformation into a butterfly through metamorphosis has held such great appeal to us for so long so must we look for growth and development throughout life.”
As I wait in His room I look for the next stage of growth for our website and retreats. Wikipedia states about butterflies, that, “After it emerges from its pupal stage, a butterfly cannot fly until the wings are unfolded. A newly emerged butterfly needs to spend some time inflating its wings with blood and letting them dry, during which time it is extremely vulnerable to predators.”
I heard a story recently that spoke to my heart. A mother asked her young son, ‘why do you keep falling off your bed at night?’ After some thought, he replied, ‘ I think I sleep too close to where I got on!’
TOUCHE” Do we not all, for the most part of our lives, live too close to that juncture where we got on the wheel of life, like one foot on and one foot off….sort of like being on an old-fashioned scooter where we have one foot on the scooter and one foot scoots the scooter along.
Another analogy is like fence sitting. “But when you ask of HIM, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.THEIR LOYALTY IS DIVIDED BETWEEN GOD AND THE WORLD AND THEY ARE UNSTABLE IN EVERYTHING THEY DO.”(James 1:6-8)
if we are going to jump on the WHEEL OF LIFE IN CHRIST we had better live that life in the middle of His will and not too close to the edge where we got on”
I might add a new verse to my older song! “The Waiting Room.” I didn’t mention about the great and mighty people you just might meet in “The Waiting Room.” Maybe I should save that for a book since it is so exciting!
Let’s look at this one again: “Abraham waited twenty-five years before his wife Sarah (a very old woman) gave birth to their first child.” My, my, Sara, you have been praying for a child(ren) for a year or so for a couple and you are already growing weary thinking,’ it can never be….O woman of little faith you are!’
Even friends ??? you have asked to pray for the same…must feel even less sure since when you mention it to them again they hardly have more than a sympathy nod to give. OMG, how quick faith can fad in the sight of man’s eyes. But, in “The Waiting Room” the light is bright, the heart is fire, the mind is IQ’d out with the hope of Jesus showing up to do His mighty miracle power part. Yes, God’s Glory is His face shining on this couple even today! Thank You, Heavenly Father!
Your new verse, Sara, does sound exciting and I look forward to reading it as it comes off the press.
I would like to add an amen affirmation to your faith proclamation for this couple.
Believe!