Waiting

I hate waiting. Hate it, hate it, hate it. It feels like I've been in a season on waiting and man have I struggled. As painful as it has been though, God is still good and He uses every situation to teach me to be a better daughter of His.

I recently read a book titled When God Takes Too Long. It really helped me change how I viewed God. I would become so angry with God because I wasn't getting my prayers answered when and how I wanted them to be. Ouch. What a selfish brat I realized I was being. God is still God in the waiting. "If we allow our faith and our actions to fade in and out according to the difficulties we face, then we'll spend our whole lives getting knocked off course and flailing around spiritually." (p.131) That blew my mind. Looking back at my spiritual life, I realized I had been doing just that. My spiritual life has waxed an waned with the tides of life. (I know that sounds cheesy) If life has been hard then I've gotten mad at God, pouted and stopped talking with Him; when life is going good I have a great spiritual life. I think God wants more than that for us and from us. We have to trust that He knows and He is working whether we can see it or not.

I also had gotten to the point where I didn't expect much from God anymore. I hadn't realized it until I read this from the book:

We interpret "not yet" to mean "never". We begin to believe this vague disappointment with God is a permanent condition. He'll take us so far, He'll raise our hopes, but we'll always be left stranded in the end. We don't give up exactly. We don't renounce our Christian commitment and publicly turn away from God. Instead, we belive in Him, but we don't expect much from Him. We'll continue to call ourselves His, but we don't intend to dream big anymore or put ourselves on the line for Him. (p.59,60 emphasis added)

If you are in the waiting room. Keep waiting. I know that sounds cruel and not very helpful at all but keep waiting. Hang in there. More than likely, you don't see God working in your life. You feel frustrated and left all alone. Don't give up! Keep Waiting! God IS working in your life. Just because things don't work out the way we would like for them to does not mean that God is any less powerful, any less caring, any less loving. I have learned that in my own waiting room.

I'm reminded of the Scripture "In my Father's house there are many rooms..." Maybe in addition to a waiting room, there's a living room and a bedroom and a parlor and a kitchen... In the waiting room, you can only see that one room. You can't see what's happening in the rest of the house. It's still God's house and He's still working in it. Maybe He's cleaning up another room getting it ready for you to join Him in it next. Right now though, it may not be ready for you - the timing's not right. Right now, you just need to wait.

The past two weeks have been stressful for me. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I believe the waiting is coming to an end. I still worry. I'm still anxious. I'm still afraid. How is it going to work out? What if it doesn't work out? I know. I forget what I've learned. For the past few nights as I'm trying to drift to dream land I've had those gnawing questions come up. And each time, I've prayed for God's help and have been flooded with Scriptures. I would like to share a few of them with you now. I hope they will help you in your time of waiting.

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Psalm 27:1 The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Also, I looked up "do not be afraid" on Bible Resources. According to this site, there are 65 verses throughout the Bible where God says to His people or servant "do not be afraid". I hope these will help encourage you in your time of waiting.