While in the Waiting Room

Do you ever have moments where it just clicks and you think, I FINALLY GET IT!  Even though you may have heard it before or even though it may be totally elementary? 

Well, this has just happened to me!  It has finally come full circle.  (Think Clark Griswold plugging the 2 cords together and  lighting up the house in Christmas Vacation.)  It finally connected for me, and I'm dying to share it for anyone who may be "in the waiting room."

Let me start by saying when I've been in the waiting room, which, I am not a fan of, I've always believed God could do anything.  I've believed that through infertility, moving away from family, and now losing a job. It is really more of His timing that I question.  

This is a story I got off a blog (Pete Wilson, Pastor at Cross Point Church in Nashville-  www.withoutwax.tv):

The other day I had the privilege of watching all three of my  boys while my wife, Brandi, was out for a bit. I’m a pretty good dad but my 2 year old can really push my buttons.  He’s so stinking intelligent but often uses this intelligence for evil purposes like manipulating me. He was mad because I wasn’t giving him some crackers he wanted and was screaming his head off.  Over and over he kept screaming “Mommy, Mommy, I want Mommy!”   So I started so scream back “I want mommy too, but she’s not here right now”.

Make no doubt about it. He didn’t really want his Mommy in that moment. He wanted what he thought his Mommy might give him.

Can I be honest with you right now?  Some of you are hoping, longing, praying, begging God to act in your life. But if we’re really honest  you don’t want God…. you want what you think God can give you.

Please note: God will withhold your crackers in order to detach your hope from”other things” and attach it to Himself.

Uh-oh!  BUSTED!!!  

I have begged God for many things along the way.  I have been thinking by continuing to wait on him to grant these things I was being faithful, hanging in there, not giving up on God.  Not just to get what I want, but believing he'll deliver because I know He can.  That is not the point.  Why do we go through the wait?  There is a reason-something God wants me to get from it.  More than the goal I have my eye fixed on.  Something to develop in us that which God wants to use for His purpose.  There will always be that next mountain to face-illness, finances, infertility, relationships, or whatever that one thing is you hope for.  It may never happen.  It may not be God's plan.  Then what?  

In one of Pete's messages I watched online, he tells the story of Lazarus.  The point was how Jesus waited 2 days before he went to Lazarus.  And, how Martha says, "If you were here, this wouldn't have happened".

I just love that-how many times do I feel that way.  He could do this if He really wanted to.  Where is He? Why isn't He here?  Why won't He just fix this?  Why won't He just help me? 

My big revelation:  If I believe , that He has a purpose for me here on earth, and I'm going through this:  THERE IS A REASON I AM WAITING and it's not just to get what I want.   It's not just dead space I have to wait out until God finally delivers what I'm asking him for.

I've just come to realize I pray like I'm giving my order at a restaurant.  Give me this, fix this, heal this.  Of course, always remembering to say please and thank you.  

Excerpt from http://otterbeinstaff.typepad.com/mikes_blog/devotion-reflections/

So often, it seems like life will be better for us when things change.  When the kids are older. When my job is less hectic.  When the economy is better.  But here is the truth of the matter from God's perspective.  Life is never going to be "perfect" because we live in a broken, fallen, and sinful world.  God's plan for a fulfilling and abundant life for us is not found in the removal of all the obstacles in life.  Instead, God's plan for a fulfilling and abundant life for us is found in HIM in the midst of the obstacles and times of change.  It is those very things that God uses to make us who He wants us to be.  It is those very things God uses to improve our lives and grow us to become more like Jesus.

As I have prayed repeatedly for Jordan's job situation since before Christmas, I find that my prayer is the same, the same, the same.  What am I doing while I'm in the waiting room?  Just waiting for God to give me what I'm asking for-to answer my prayer?  Why am I here in the first place?  What am I learning while I'm waiting?  What am I getting from God that he intends for me to from all of this.  Something I consider a setback may be just the opposite for my faith.

What a missed opportunity to get quickly what it is that you want!  It's not just about waiting on God to answer my prayer-to give me the thing I'm waiting and hoping for.  He wants me to HOPE IN HIM. It's for my growth and for His glory.   It's for my good.  Even though the situation may be bad.  And THAT makes the wait worth it.

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.  James 1:2