THE WAITING ROOM

For all of the inconvenience of a waiting room, it is perhaps the surest place of hope anywhere in the world! For a person who is in pain, discomfort, or illness has a reason to be dispondent unless they are in a waiting room. The same person is empowered to endure their trials simply because they know that soon they will be tended to. Waiting rooms give their guests hope. But not everyone in a waiting room is in discomfort. I spoke with someone this week who said they had a doctor's appointment. "It's just my annual check-up" they told me. Waiting rooms lead to reassurance and even accountability. And for those who've ever been in a waiting room without bringing your own reading material, waiting rooms become a fount of amazing information sourced from obscure magazines that not only does no-one buy, no-one bothers to steal from a waiting room either (did you know that Tarantual wasps paralyze tarantulas and lay a single egg on the still living spider; when the egg hatches, the wasp larva has fresh food?). Maybe it's time to celebrate the wonders of the waiting room...

Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD!
Psalm 27:14

A DIFFERENT KIND OF WAITING

Most people equate waiting time as wasting time. Our instant-expectations fuelled by instant messaging, fast food, microwaves, and 2-Minute noodles, have done much to distort how we regard time. There is, however, great unsung value to be gained by time in a waiting room. It is here that we are forced to cease, slow down, and somewhat: rest. In our Western experiment, we generally take it for granted that we can see a health professional in a reasonable space of time. This is not a luxury shared by the vast majority of the world. We think nothing of "catching the 'flu" in our Western world, butcatching the 'flu is actually fatal in most other parts of the world! Therefore, waiting rooms are a symbol of extravagent privilege. It is a privilege to wait in hope. God sometimes invites us into His grace but not before we have to wait. God's waiting rooms are statements that He is dispensing hope (Psa. 130:5 ¶ I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope). Are you waiting for God at the moment? (Rom. 8:25)

¶ Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!
Psalm 37:7

Waiting sounds like "do nothing". Ask a waiter what waiting means. It's doubtful that she would say that waiting is doing nothing! Waiting can mean waiting on in the sense of serving. This is definitely what a waiter knows it means! And it seems to be this sense that Scripture calls us to wait on the Lord.

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.,
Isaiah 40:31

When you're in God's waiting room, it can be a time of surprise learning (who would have guessed that Tarantual wasps were so interesting?...sorry I've digressed). It's in God's waiting room that we learn things that we wouldn't be choice seek to learn. If you are in a waiting room season now, what is God teaching you - or more aptly: what are you learning in God's waiting room now?

Then you will know that I am the LORD;
those who wait for me shall not be put to shame."
Isaiah 49:23b .

If you're in a waiting room, it means two simultaneous things: you recognise you have (or might have) a problem and secondly you have an appointment with the One who can solve that problem. This is why waiting rooms are hope-zones! And here's the wonderful news about our access to God's waiting room. The believer can come into God's waiting room with the need to phone ahead, get an appointment, or even a referal. You are invited to before God anytime!

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16

Ps. Andrew