God's Waiting Room

I will wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in His Word I put my hope.

-- Psalm 130:5

We live in a 24/7 world of instant communications, Walmart Supercenters and microwave popcorn. And just about anything we want is literally available to us at the click of a mouse or tap of a touchscreen. But take another look and you'll see that we're not always on the move. Efficiency experts report that on average, people spend about 45 to 62 minutes each day waiting. That covers common tasks like waiting in line at the bank, waiting at the restaurant for the server to take your order, and even waiting for your car to fill up at the gas pump. 

That adds up to about three years of waiting by the time you reach age 70!

 

Since few people like to wait, multi-tasking to make the most of down-time has become a valued life skill. However, waiting isn't always a waste. In fact, waiting is an essential part of God's plan for our lives because it's the process that enables us to become who He wants us to be. This concept might be difficult to grasp because the human viewpoint of time differs greatly from that of our Creator's. The Apostle Peter puts it into perspective for us through Scripture: "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends," he writes. "To the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day."

As Christ-followers, we need to understand that what happens while we're waiting is often more important than what we're waiting for. Ask anyone who has spent hours at the hospital contemplating the health and future of a loved one. Did their soul-searching experience bring a closer dependence on God? It should have. After all, it's when we're so humbled and powerless that we realize we can do nothing on our own.

So maybe our never-stop, 24/7 world actually revolves around waiting. Let's therefore make the most of our time in God's Waiting Room--a place where we can look for ways and opportunities to say yes to Him--and all with a sense of expectancy and hope.

"Be still, and know that I am God," He tells us through Psalm 46:10. "I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."