{"id":137,"date":"2016-10-08T08:35:18","date_gmt":"2016-10-08T08:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shiningideas.org\/?p=137"},"modified":"2016-10-08T08:36:33","modified_gmt":"2016-10-08T08:36:33","slug":"the-waiting-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shiningideas.org\/?p=137","title":{"rendered":"The Waiting Room"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s 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 Waiting rooms are known to be eerie quiet with hard on your backside chairs and outdated magazines.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.<\/p>\n

Sometimes the wait isn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0Personally, I\u2019m waiting for all the above. I know all too well that waiting can lead to much frustration\u2026then crying\u2026then restlessness\u2026 then doubt\u2026 then more crying and then the whole dreaded cycle begins again. Whoop ti do.<\/p>\n

God\u2019s Functional Clock<\/strong><\/p>\n

It seems that the waiting room is the place that stands in between you and where you want or need to be.\u00a0<\/u><\/em><\/strong>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\u2019s forgotten about me (deep down in my heart I know this isn\u2019t true and try my best to shake it off). In Ecclesiastes it says:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe does everything right and on time, but people can never understand what he is doing.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

– Ecclesiastes 3:11<\/em><\/p>\n

So I definitely agree that the Lord does \u201ceverything right and on time.\u201d The frustrating part is that I have no idea what His bigger picture is and I have no idea what His schedule is like\u2026which 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\u2019t what God thinks is best for you. I feel that usually He wants me to lean on Him and know that He is God.<\/p>\n

Waiting Well<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some quick tips on how to make the most out of the waiting room:<\/p>\n