God's Waiting Room

 Are you currently in God’s waiting room? 

Waiting for Him to heal you or a loved one.

Waiting for Him to answer that prayer you’ve been praying for years.

Waiting for Him to show you the next step.

    It seems there are many of us in the Lord’s waiting room. I’m not sure if I’ve known this many people in the waiting room before or if it’s because I’m in the waiting room that I recognize other people are in the room with me. Being in the waiting room isn’t always the most comfortable place to be. When we are in the waiting room at the doctor’s office we are sitting amongst strangers and we are all sick or we are there to see if we can get answers as to why something is wrong with us; thus making us all uncomfortable or on edge. 

    The Lord’s waiting room isn’t much different. We’re waiting for God to do something or tell us something to do. We are anxious and wanted answers yesterday. God’s timing isn’t always aligned with our timing. We recognize God is in control, but what happens if we don’t wait?

    I was reminded in Sunday school about Saul and him not waiting on Samuel at Gilgal. “Saul, however; was still at Gilgal, and all his troops were gripped with fear. He waited seven days for the appointed time that Samuel had set, but Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and the troops were deserting him. So Saul said, ‘Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.’ Then he offered the burnt offering. Just as he finished offering the burnt offering Samuel arrived. So Saul went out to greet him and Samuel asked, ‘What have you done?” 1 Samuel 13:7b-11

Sit with me as I break these verses down by what jumps out at me. (I'm smiling at you as I pat the seat next to me.)

    The first thing that jumps out at me is that fear was a major factor in how Saul responded to Samuel’s late arrival. Saul’s troops were, “gripped with fear”, and I’m sure Saul wasn’t just sitting around chumming it up as the enemy troops were gaining ground. How often do we jump ahead of God because we are filled with fear of what we think is going to happen? When we let fear overtake us we tend to lose focus on God and his promises. We take control of the situation and do what we think is best only later to realize our fear never came to fruition.

    The second thing I notice is Saul did wait for the seven days that Samuel asked him to, but once that time frame was up he became impatient. Once the time that Saul thought was right expired he decided he would offer the burnt offerings to God instead of allowing Samuel to do his job as the prophet of the Lord. How often do we get impatient with God’s timing and do something that was not meant for us to do? We tend to be so focused on ourselves and our timeline that we don’t consider the big picture. While we are sitting in the Lord’s waiting room, God is working and only his timing will allow all the pieces to fall into the right place. He is working out all the details that we don’t even realize need attention. Could it be that when we don’t wait we not only miss out on a blessing, but we steal someone else’s opportunity to be blessed?

    The last verse and a question that no one really wants to hear, “What have you done” is asked. I’m sure this question was laced with disdain. Samuel was disappointed that Saul didn’t wait for his arrival, but the ultimate picture was Saul would lose his kingship because he did not listen to God. Thankfully, we can not lose our place as sons and daughters of the King because we don’t listen. We can, however, make a mess of things and have to clean it up before we can move forward.

    We don’t like to wait, but there is something special about waiting. We can use this time of waiting to draw closer to God. Every time we get anxious or impatient with waiting we can take it to God. While we’re waiting God is working. I had a friend/mentor tell me recently, “God knows,” and that simple phrase eased my anxious heart.

God knows we’re anxious.

God knows we want to know the next step.

God knows the problem.

God knows the answer.

    Being in God’s waiting room isn’t always comfortable or easy, but we can trust him. If we are waiting it is so he can work things out for our good. Even though it doesn’t always seem like it’s for our good, if we keep giving all our concerns, fears, and worries to him we will receive his peace and all will be okay. It may not work out the way we wanted or even thought, but it will work out so that God’s will and purpose for our lives are done and he receives the glory. 

“Wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart be courageous. Wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:14

Easter's Over, Now What?

    There is so much hype for Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, but what’s next? I wanted to take a different perspective this Easter and look at Pilate’s Good Friday all those years ago. When I did, a question stood out to me. Join me as I walk through that day and maybe it will help us decide…NOW WHAT?

    It’s early Friday morning and the Sanhedrin, who had just tried Jesus, presented him to Pilate. A little background here, Pilate was not well-liked by the Jews or his fellow Roman superiors. Herod and Ceaser both disliked him, so for him to be faced with making a decision on Jesus’ innocence put him in an awkward situation. The odds of him making someone unhappy were highly likely.

    Upon hearing the accusations from the elders of the Sanhedrin, Pilate declared Jesus was innocent and sent him to Herod hoping that Herod would take the sentencing of this innocent man into his hands and Pilate wouldn’t have to worry about upsetting the Jews, Herod, or Ceasar. Herod agreed with Pilate’s declaration and sent Jesus back to Pilate for him to make a final decision in this obvious religious spitefulness. 

    Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent and to clear his conscience of condemning an innocent man he offered to have Jesus flogged and then release him. The leaders of the Jews would have nothing to do with that and wanted him dead. Pilate went back to interrogate Jesus and he did not deny that he was King of the Jews, nor did he deny that he was the Son of God. I’m sure this unnerved Pilate, and then Pilate’s wife told him to have nothing to do with the death of Jesus because of a dream she had. This probably rattled him a bit, and at this point, Pilate felt defeated, but he still had a decision to make. He could release Jesus and cause a riot, which would further the dislike of him by Caesar, or he could grant the Jews their demand for justice and crucify him. Pilate, thinking the Jews would surely free Jesus over a murderer, offered to release Jesus, but the elders stirred up the crowd and they all yelled, “Crucify HIM!”. Washing his hands in front of the crowd, indicating he had nothing to do with the innocent man's blood Pilate released the murderer, Barabas, and ordered Jesus to be crucified.

     As these events played out, I’m sure Pilate was dealing with internal conflicts. He had to decide which group he wanted to please. He knew Jesus was innocent, but did he choose Jesus’ life or his own safety/comfort? 

    Can you imagine what he was thinking Sunday when the word got out that Jesus was not in the tomb, and he was in fact ALIVE? 

Pilate probably thought…Now what? 

    During Pilate’s last interrogation of Jesus, he asked Jesus a very important question. A question that often gets overlooked, but is important for us to know the answer to. The answer to that question is what separates Christian beliefs from the rest of the world. 

The question: “What is truth?”

The answer: The Bible

    As we come down from the exhilaration of Jesus’ victory over the grave we must seek the truth daily. By seeking the truth daily, the excitement from this weekend can last. We will not only have the excitement of the resurrection, but we will also have the JOY of the Lord stored in our hearts. We can be like Pilate and make the decision to please the leaders, stay in our comfort zones, and not cause a riot or we can live like JESUS and start a revolution.

John 18:28-19:16