It’s not the place we choose to be. Waiting rooms are known to be eerie quiet with hard on your backside chairs and outdated magazines. In this place we stare at other people (or try our best to avoid eye contact) and wait for our name to be called.
Sometimes the wait isn’t long. We surprisingly get called after a few minutes and are out the door in no time to move on with our day. But there are times when we wait an hour or more to be called, and its in these moments where we start constantly checking the time and muttering something angry at the innocent receptionist.
There are many things, and good things at that, that we wait for in this life. Some of us are waiting on a job, healing from prolonged sickness, or when to get married. Personally, I’m waiting for all the above. I know all too well that waiting can lead to much frustration…then crying…then restlessness… then doubt… then more crying and then the whole dreaded cycle begins again. Whoop ti do.
God’s Functional Clock
It seems that the waiting room is the place that stands in between you and where you want or need to be. The word difficult does not even begin to describe how tough it is to wait on God. On really bad days I think His watch must be broken or even that He’s forgotten about me (deep down in my heart I know this isn’t true and try my best to shake it off). In Ecclesiastes it says:
“He does everything right and on time, but people can never understand what he is doing.”
– Ecclesiastes 3:11
So I definitely agree that the Lord does “everything right and on time.” The frustrating part is that I have no idea what His bigger picture is and I have no idea what His schedule is like…which brings me to the hardest yet best thing we can do: seek Him and trust that He is working for your good. Ultimately, I know that what I want is for Him to insta-answer my prayer when this probably isn’t what God thinks is best for you. I feel that usually He wants me to lean on Him and know that He is God.
Waiting Well
Some quick tips on how to make the most out of the waiting room:
- Journal – I know it seems a bit crazy to write down painful times in your life cause some of us don’t want to remember them—but it could be beneficial. One, it serves as an amazing outlet to express your feelings. Two, you can look back on it to see how God has come through for you in unexpected ways.
- Find the positives – Among the pain and hardship, pick something positive out of your situation. You may be gaining wisdom or learning to be compassionate. Maybe you might even realize in the future that the waiting room was the best time in your life to grow with God.
- Grow: Lastly, grow. I find that the times that I’ve gone through intense emotional pain is when I clung the most to God and grew (yea, pain has a way of making you do this). I’d wake up in the morning and literally cry out to the Lord because he was the only thing that was keeping me going. These were such dark times but beautiful times as well.
Just a reminder on God’s clock: It’s working—meaning He’s working…
Always,
Faith