The Waiting Room

Scriptures: Philippians 4:6, Isaiah 55:1-3, Matthew 11:28, 1 John 5:14-15

Pray

When the tides of life hit hard against us, we tend to get drawn down to the details of what is happening in our lives, making us lose focus on the one thing that has power to keep us going, PRAYER. 

Philippians 4:6 urges us to present our requests to God through prayer. As a child of God, you have direct access to Him. Prayer is an open conversation with God. A conversation you can feel free to have with Him because He has called you forth to come as you are (Isaiah 55:1-3). God invites you to bring your weariness, anxiousness, unworthiness, confusion and uncertainty to Him. In return, He promises you rest and peace that surpasses all understanding. 

So what do you pray for, and how do you pray whilst in the waiting room? Well, prayer is always personal and spirit-led. However, sometimes when your spirit is found wanting, it may not lead you to a place of communion with God. When this is the case, let these things guide your prayer time: 

Be vulnerable: Vulnerable prayers are petitions. They are not sugar-coated or infused with special colourants or additives but are direct and specific to the needs you have. The prerequisite for these prayers is humility. Humility allows God’s grace to pierce through our souls to effect change in our lives and situations. 

Pray for refinement: When in the waiting, we tend to get impatient and it becomes difficult to trust the process. This heightens and magnifies our challenges, worries and concerns, thus increasing our anxiety levels. An unreformed character sabotages the purposeful work that you’ve been called to carry out. Praying for refinement is to plead with God to work on your character that when the waiting period is over, you are reformed to work purposefully. 

Pray for restoration: Pray to God to restore your faith in Him. Unreserved faith in Christ is an arsenal at your disposal to help you not to wallow in pity, but to get you going, forging ahead with great determination. 

God listens and hears all prayers, no matter the format or length of the prayer. No matter the time of the day you are praying, God hears it all. 

So whenever you feel like your back is against the wall, in that waiting room, pray without ceasing.

Scriptures: Matthew 6:34, Lamentations 3:22

Be Present

There’s a song we used to sing whilst growing up that said: “live your life, live your life, don’t worry about tomorrow.” These particular words are true and align with part of the Sermon on the Mount in Mathew 6:34 when Jesus said: “So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own.”

Worrying about what’s to come, if it does come and when or how it will actually come, steals from the joy and blessings each day brings. Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us that despite what we may be going through, God’s mercies are new every day. But if we are not fully present with where God has placed us, we won’t be able to bask in these mercies. When we are not present, we deprive ourselves from experiencing God’s full measure of goodness in our lives, in a particular moment or day. 

So what does it take to be fully present? 

Well, presence requires acknowledgement, not of the big things alone, but more so of those that seem small and insignificant. 

Acknowledgement of where you are: if you are at work, be at work. If you are playing with your children, focus on that and not on the number of things you still need to get done. Because of how life is set up, our minds are always consumed by all the tasks ahead of us. We worry about what we’ll eat tomorrow, if we’ll have enough of this or that, forgetting that the moment we are in is what matters because the next one isn’t promised. 

Acknowledgement of your surroundings: today, take a moment to look around at what’s surrounding you. Count the number of trees on your regular route to the shopping center. On your way to work, look at the type of buildings that make up your city. Close your eyes and listen to the freeing sound of birds chirping outside. After a long day, look around you and behold the beauty that surrounds you and thank God for it. 

Acknowledgement of how you feel: when you are present, you become more in tune with your feelings. Is your spirit unsettled? Are you feeling anxious and doubtful about a decision you are about to make? Are you feeling joyful? It is positively impactful to allow yourself space and time to feel. Gift that to your soul so it can rest in the perfect peace that God has promised. 

When we are fully present, we get to realize that things aren’t so bad in the waiting room. In actual fact, there’s many more things to be grateful for. When you are feeling challenged by a situation and being present proves to be a challenge, ask God “Lord, what are you trying to teach me in this season of life” and then wait for a response. 

Being present is about acknowledging where you are but with the confidence that no matter how dire things may look, God will work it out. Then leaning more into Him, to be able to hear Him speak and guide you through the valley, just like He did David, Job, and many others in the Bible.

Scriptures: Romans 12:12, James 2:14-26, Matthew 6:33, Romans 8:28

Be Expectant

Whilst in the waiting room, what are you expectant of? Are you expectant of a good outcome, or are you conflicted or terrified because of what has been presented to you?

Our expectations are strongly influenced by what we believe. So today, reflect on what it is that has helped form your beliefs about what to expect in a certain situation.

As children of God, the basis of our expectations should be guided by God’s word. God’s word contains many promises which He yearns to fulfil for all of us. But the expectancy of the fulfilment of these promises should not be accompanied by a character of entitlement. Being expectant of God requires humility, abiding in Him and surrendering to His will.

In reciting The Lord’s prayer, we pray for God’s will to happen in our lives. But are we ever ready for the revelation of what His will is? What it will mean for us? At times God’s will doesn’t match our expectations. We ask for God’s will but with preconceived ideas of how that will look like. And when it doesn’t materialise the way we envisioned, we feel crushed.

Praying for God’s will to happen means we are declaring ourselves completely reliant on Him. It means we rely solely on God for “fresh ideas” on how to change our situation(s) around. Being expectant is about letting our hope keep us joyful as Apostle Paul writes in Romans 12:12. Being expectant is about playing our part to ensure that God’s promises upon our lives get fulfilled. Citing expectancy in faith but not playing an active role is described as “useless” in James 2:14-26.

So what now? In that waiting room, be expectant for God to move in ways that only He can. Believe (have faith) that God wants to do good in your life and He will. For our expectations to be aligned with God’s will, we are required to first seek His God’s kingdom as Jesus says in Mathew 6:33. Seeking Him in earnest paves way for our expectations to be aligned with His will. This is what will keep us strengthened and determined in the waiting room. We wait with expectation, knowing that all things are work together for our good (Romans 8:28).

Scriptures: 1 John 4:1, 1 Timothy 4:1, Colossians 2:8, 1 Kings 3:9

Discernment

Discernment – the ability to exercise keen insight and good judgement. 

We’ve become inhabitants of a global village and access to information influences how we live our lives. Unacceptable things have become societal and cultural norms and when you don’t conform to these, you are different. Having a discerning spirit will always set you apart. No matter what may come your way in that waiting room, discernment will empower you to stay grounded in the truth, instead of being moved by the things of the world. 

1 John 4:1 warns us of false prophets who may sound like preachers of God’s word. We are encouraged not to believe everything we hear and to carefully weigh in and examine what people say. I will go further to add that we should do this for all the things we consume, be it the books or blogs we read, the music or podcasts we listen to or the social media accounts we follow. 

Discernment is godly wisdom. Godly wisdom empowers you to make the right decisions without being easily swayed by the happenings of the world. There will always be a clarion, a noisy gong sounding the loudest in our hearts and minds. One thing is for sure, if you don’t make time to be still, you will not be discerning to God’s voice when He speaks. You will be deaf to his commands. Discernment becomes prevalent when we quieten our souls to openly hear from God. Discernment requires immediate obedience. Whatever it is you are wrestling with in that waiting room, be still so you are in a position to hear God speak to you. 

Will you invite God into your heart today? Will you pray to God to quieten the noise in your life and give you a discerning spirit?

Scriptures: Philippians 4:6, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalms 23:6, Matthew 11:30

Surrender

Surrendering can be viewed by many as giving up or throwing in the towel. But this is a definition used by the world, which we should not ascribe to. When we are found wanting in the wilderness, our cup filled to the brim with confusion and our actions fueled by anxiety, surrendering to God is our gateway to experiencing the peace that He promises in Philippians 4:6. 

The precursor to surrender is humility. Humility brings us to the feet of Christ, thereby allowing us to surrender all armor (our intellect, our skills, our pride, our networks, our positions of power, etc.). Humility moves us from a place of leaning on our own understanding, which Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages us against, to a surrendered position where we say “Lord, let your will be done in my life” and actually mean it. 

Surrender is repentance that: “Lord, I doubted your power because I thought I could do this myself. On my own. But I was wrong. I need you now, always have but I was just too stubborn to admit it. Please forgive me Father.” 

In the waiting room, weighed down by the weight of if all, surrender fully before God. As Matthew 11:30 says, His “yoke is easy” and His “burden is light.” Yes, the world has solutions and instruments which may seem appeasing to your situation, but most of them will provide temporary fixes. Nothing in this world can lighten your load the way that God can. So when it becomes unbearable, fix your eyes on Him. In fact, don’t wait until it becomes unbearable, fix your eyes on God from the very beginning. 

Surrendering it all to God translates to an acknowledgment of God’s strength and power to make it all right. It also translates to your acceptance of His might to transform your life so that you are able to bask in His goodness, grace and mercy. Like David says in Psalm 23:6, “surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” 

What do you need to surrender to God today?

Scriptures: Ecclesiastes 1:9-10, Ecclesiastes 3:11, Isaiah 40:31, Isaiah 43:18-19, Romans 8:25, James 1:12

Perfect Timing

“How can it be perfect timing when I’ve been waiting for so long?” you may ask. Well, Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 teaches us that there is nothing new under the sun and that there is a time for everything.

For us to understand that God’s timing is always perfect, we need to first start at acknowledging the various stages of life. A new born baby does not spring from its mother’s womb and start walking to the nearest playground. Before leaping onto the playground, the baby needs to be nurtured tenderly through the various stages of their development. The parents or guardians have been placed in their roles for a specific reason and the child trusts them to provide guidance.

While waiting on God, we need to get into the habit of embracing the seasons of life we find ourselves in. The nature of an embrace gives acknowledgement to the thing or person being embraced. An embrace of a season gives you permission, without judgement to reflect on the journey that brought you to where you are finding yourself.

Instead of feeling like you’ve been in the waiting room for too long and life is passing you by whilst your peers are making it big, remember that all good things come to those who wait in the Lord (Isaiah 40:31). Waiting in the Lord is never a waste of time.

Perfect timing is about intentionally asking “what is God trying to teach me in this season?” and listening with a discerning heart to hear from God. God’s prompts are what you will require to thrive in the next phase of your life. Trust in God’s perfect timing, be patient for He cannot do a new thing in your life if you are still clothed in old garments. Whilst waiting for God’s timing to come to pass, remain patient, confident, and faithful in all you do.

Scriptures: Psalms 34, Hebrews 11:1, Colossians 3:16-17, Psalms 86

Praise

The lyrics of one of my favourite songs goes like this: “We bless your name, we bless your name, Oh Mighty God. We bow before your throne. We glorify your holy name, Qhawe lama qhawe (meaning King of kings in South African isiXhosa). We magnify your Holy name, Qhawe lama qhawe.” 

When in the waiting room, sometimes it is not easy to give God a praise. When we look around us and see deprivation, our human nature is blinded to the work that God may be doing in that season of our life. Due to the state of our being, we find it difficult to express praise unto The Lord. However, we need to be cognisant of the fact that the spirit deterring us from praising God in the midst of our greatest challenges is not from God. 

Psalm 34 encourages us to praise God even when we go through trials and tribulations. We see examples of how to do this from many of God’s people in the Bible, such as David and Job. Despite what these two went through, they always praised God and sincerely magnified His name. Throughout scripture we see how God always made inroads for those who loved Him. 

When you love The Lord and abide in Him, He will make a way for you. No matter how bleak it may seem, when you are one with God, you will trust in the fulfilment of His promises and praise Him for it, even when you are yet to see them come to fruition. As Hebrews 11:1 says, “faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen”. 

There are many ways to praise God, some are as simple and practical as these two: 

Worship music: When you want to praise but you can’t utter the “right” words, sing or play a worship song and immerse yourself deeply in its message of thanks and honour. 

Practise gratitude: a grateful heart is a magnet for good things. Make it a daily habit to reflect on the things you are grateful for each day. Practising gratitude is a powerful tool of praise as it focuses not on lack but on what is good and pleasing, which the Lord is doing and has provided for in your life.