The Land Of Waiting - December 9, 2021

“We don’t like to wait. We are the giddyup generation. We weave through traffic, looking for the faster lane. We frown at the person who takes eleven items into the ten-item express checkout. We drum our fingers while the song downloads or the microwave heats our coffee. Come on, come on. We want six pack abs in ten minutes and minute rice in thirty seconds. We don’t like to wait. Not on the doctor, the traffic, or the pizza. Not on God? Take a moment and look around you. Do you realize where you sit? This planet is God’s waiting room. Waiting on God to give, to heal, to help. Waiting on God to come.”

This excerpt is from Max Lucado’s book, “You’ll Get Through This.” The words in the title are just what I needed on this day, a day my body rebelled against itself by giving me widespread hives and burning, and countless other riveting symptoms. I can barely get my brain off it. If you’ve ever had poison ivy, you may know what some of this feels like. I liken it to a spider web that reaches all corners of my body, up to my head and down to my toes. Max Lucado calls this place I often find myself in, the “land of the waiting” and that’s exactly where I feel like I live most of the time. Waiting for stuff to go away. For pain to settle down. For crazy symptoms to stop popping up.

While reading his book, it occurred to me that despite this chronic pain syndrome, I’m waiting for other things too. For relationships to heal, for friends to get better, for retirement to be here, for ministries to grow, for doctors to call, for vacations to arrive, for important meetings, for sleep to come, for prayers to be answered. For Jesus to return. We’re all sitting in God’s waiting room

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“While you wait, God works.” – Max Lucado

Wow. What a wonderful thought. Not only is God working but we have company! He gave us His only son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to hang out with us in the waiting room. I can imagine Jesus pulling up a chair, sitting next to me and having the feeling He has nowhere else He’d rather be, but with me. While I am waiting, God just might be doing some of His best work. When I feel time is dragging and dragging, like standing at the airport in a TSA line, and I ask myself, “How long is this going to go on?” I need to remember that waiting is not necessarily a passive activity. Things are happening in the heavenly realms I know nothing about. It’s a tough concept to wrap my head around. I like to see things happen and I like to see them yesterday.

I picture a scene in heaven: Gabriel summons the angels for a meeting and says, "Diane needs help." The angels are working on millions of requests and just the right angel needs to be chosen. When the one is found, the devil appears and makes his life difficult. It takes the angel a while to thwart him and come out victorious. It's milliseconds in heaven but much longer here. We are clueless when it comes to God’s timing. We might as well admit it and put our faith and trust in the One who said He had plans for us- the One who promises to work all things for our good.

So, we live our life as we wait. We learn to be still because God is paying attention to all our problems and taking necessary action to resolve them. All our years are waiting years and they are made up of all the moments – the good moments, the bad moments, the moments where time seems to stand still, the ones that fly by. God is at work in all the days, in all the moments. In all the time we have here on earth to let God complete His perfect will in us, until we get to our forever home.

So, next time I find myself in a trying situation, I hope I will pull up a chair next to my bed for Jesus to sit awhile. Then step aside and let God get to work.

P.S. And the beautiful land I’m waiting in right now is pretty darn amazing!