God's Waiting Room...

I believe that those who work in doctor's offices have this "waiting" thing down to a science. Think about it for a moment. First they give you an appointment time, which by the way, was also given to about ten other patients. Then after you have checked in at the desk, they ask you to take a seat as they inform you that the doctor will be with you in a minute. After you have waited anywhere between 20-30 minutes, you are finally escorted to another room in the back where a nurse takes your vital signs, then proceeds to tell you again that "the doctor will be in to see you shortly," but all you have to do is wait.

We've all heard the familiar expression, "Good things come to those who wait." But waiting is difficult, and sometimes you forget what you waited for. If you think that waiting on others is difficult, I believe that sometimes, it is even more difficult for us to wait on God. Listen to what the psalmist David says in Psalm 40:1: "I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined to my ear and heard my cry." Why do I get the impression that David did not possess the temperament of a choleric? If he did, then he would have been, what I refer to as a "converted choleric." After all, the Apostle Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:22 that patience is a fruit or by-product of the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

As much as I hate to wait, I must admit that it would be in my best interest to be patient when I am waiting on God. In other words, if God places me in His waiting room, it must be for my best interest, right? Many times God places us in His waiting room so that we can learn how to do that very thing ... wait. In James 4:3, we are reminded that one of the reasons why God places us in His waiting room, especially in delaying answers to our prayers, is because we are asking with the wrong motive. In other words, sometimes God has to delay in providing us with something that is good for us simply because we are not ready to receive it. Listen, if good things are sought after prematurely, they can do more harm than things that are evil by nature. Something to think about the next time you find yourself in a "waiting room."

Pastor Charles A. Tapp