WAITING

If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find Me. Jeremiah 29:13

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in and we will share a meal together as friends.” Revelation 3:20

Come close to God, and God will come close to you. James 4:8

What is it about waiting that none of us likes? I do not pretend to have all the answers, and probably not even some of them. Waiting is just that, waiting. Waiting in a doctor’s office, waiting in line, waiting for the phone call, waiting for the job offer, waiting for the right relationship, waiting for the ship to come in, waiting. There are times that waiting can paralyze us, and render us ineffective in every other area of our lives.

And, if I were to ask you to draw a picture, could you draw WAITING? Most of us would draw what I just described. But to draw waiting – it is not something tangible but it is felt deep down. And it causes anxiety, angst, anger, depression, hopelessness, impatience, to name a few. How in the world can something that cannot be drawn evoke such strong emotion? I think it could lie in our perspective.

I heard a friend say this week, “There is holiness in waiting.” Wow. She nailed it. It IS a mindset. When we are in a season of waiting, we have got to get our focus on God and

not on self. That is the key right there.

If we look at the verses I put at the top – God is found when we seek – go after Him. Pursue Him. Run to Him, not away from. Chase hard after God. Do everything to please Him (Ephesians 5:10).

God is standing at the door of my heart. I have let Him in and He is Lord in my life, but there are times when I shut Him out of certain things. Not intentionally always, but there are times when I do not talk to Him about decisions, everyday stuff, even big stuff. He is at my door, and He will come in, all I have got to do is open the door, and an instant flooding of His Presence and His peace comes in and fills me.

This is an act of drawing close to God. And when I do that, He is close to me. He is not the one who wanders. I am. Have you ever lost a child in a crowd? I have. Twice. And with the same one! And it was not me that moved, it was the child. God is our anchor – immovable. He is steadfast. Unshakeable. While we are bobbing all around wondering why we feel so lost.

Back to waiting. All that bobbing around gives us something to do, I guess. Waiting feels so unproductive. This is the crux of the matter. We are a society of do, and not a society of be. When we introduce ourselves to someone, we ask job or what hobby. Have you EVER been asked by a recent acquaintance how you were? Or conversely, have you asked? I mean, how you really were, that moment. Not in my lifetime. It would sound creepy, because we are not used to it. We want to hear the accomplishments, so we can tick off ours. Can you imagine the look on someone’s face if you said, “I am waiting?” Immediately the response would be why? What for? And what are you DOING in the meantime?

What is so wrong with waiting? Can’t we see that when we wait for God, He is there? He is close to us? He is actually waiting for us to show up and just be. Think about that. God, our Father is heaven, is waiting for us. Waiting. On His throne in the throne room.

So let us come boldly to the throne room of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it. Hebrews 4:16

Did you know that you can storm the throne room? You know, rush in, and have instant access? You are family, and family always trumps. So, what is holding us back? I think this is something that we have to figure out. Because we have this promise, and the right to be there, we need to exercise that right of an instant audience with the LORD OF ALL, and just be still. The Psalmist reminds us to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). It is here in the throne room that we are to be still.

Turn off the noise. Shut down the whatever. Focus our eyes on the Author and Perfecter of our faith. And be still. Boy, that goes against everything our society/world throws at us. Haven’t you noticed the increased volume of noise? Or the sheer abundance of bells and whistles? It is daunting. And nauseating. The only true way to hear from God in our waiting is to silence the junk around us so we can listen, and listen intently. And it takes practice. Waiting and being still are muscles that need to be exercised. They need to be used all the time and if not, they will atrophy. I am speaking from experience. Running on my own power, in my own strength and not spending time with my Father is exhausting. I have done it. It accomplishes nothing.

I am in a season of waiting. Yes, I was given a diagnosis last week about my feet. Yes, my cuboids are holding their rightful position in my feet. When I asked Lino earlier this week how long it would be to be stable (mind you – stable – not done), he said two months. Wait. I am a trifle dear in that ear. Did you say two months? Just to get them stable? Yes. Two months. So, I am having to put my own words into practice. More than that, I have to put God’s Words into practice. I have to look. Draw near. Wait. Come.

For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like You, who works for those who wait for Him! Isaiah 64:4

I shared what I am waiting for and what I am needing to do. What about you? Will you look, draw near, wait, come and seek as well as open the door to Christ Jesus? if the answer is yes, I am right here with you. If the answer is no, why not? And why not now? Because there is an abundance of peace waiting for you. Because in the throne room, you are more awed by the Presence of God than your circumstance. Our problems pale in comparison to our Almighty God. They just do.