The waiting room of a doctor’s office or emergency room is usually not a place where most of us want to be spending time. We all understand the reasons too! First of all, we don’t like the waiting room because we are not feeling well (or a loved one is not feeling well). No one likes to be sick. Second of all, we don’t like the waiting room because we are anxious to hear the diagnosis and the prescribed solution. We do not want to wait to start feeling better! We want solutions…now! Waiting. Is. Hard.
When I was a teenager, my family was in a car accident and we all had to go to the ER. When we arrived, we signed in and were told to take a seat in the beloved waiting room. We were sore, my brother had a large laceration on his back, some had stiff necks, and we were all a little shook up…but nonetheless, we waited – and waited – for our turn with a doctor.
While we waited two elderly women came into the waiting room. One of them told the woman behind the desk that their doctor thought her sister was having a heart attack and they needed to head off to the ER immediately. The woman behind the desk received the information unphased. She then pushed the clipboard towards them, asked them to sign in and have a seat in the waiting room. After those ladies sat down, a teenage boy came through the doors with his father. The boy was bleeding and looked like he was in significant pain. The woman once again recited her mantra like a person working at an amusement park as a tour guide…mindlessly directing the crowds.
Outrageous! Right? We sometimes feel like that when we are waiting for God to work, don’t we?! Frustrated. Maybe resentful or angry. Sometimes depressed or mournful…and sometimes even in pain! We ask ourselves -- what is taking so long?! The reality is, we truly don’t know what to do while waiting…and that is what drives us to do what we shouldn’t, while waiting on God. Disciples of Jesus, we must understand that God’s best intentions & actions are at work – and He deserves His people to actively wait on Him.
Ruth now had the hard job… “sit still!” Naomi assures Ruth that Boaz will not stop until he has completed the job. Ruth’s whole direction of life is in the balance – and she now has to wait to hear what the outcomes of Boaz’s conversation with a closer relative will be. Hours will feel like days…and a day will feel like weeks!
Don’t miss this…Ruth’s waiting must be understood as active trust! She cannot sit around and embrace anxiety over something she has absolutely no control over. That would drive her crazy! She must now trust the one true God!
Ruth must trust the same God that led her to Naomi back in Moab…
The same God whom she declared would be her God…
The same God who provided for her needs with gleaning laws that were well established well before she came on the scene…
The same God who brought her to the fields of a near kinsman without her knowing it…
…and the same God who stirred Boaz’s heart to love her --- is the same God she continues to actively trust right now.
Ruth has a rich, brief history of trusting the God of Israel. This will comfort her heart to actively trust God yet again.
Disciples of Jesus — consider the history you have with the one true God. In times of waiting on Him, rehearse His faithfulness to you. Go back to the beginning of your “God relationship timeline” …rehearse in detail the gospel. Rehearse the day you accepted God’s saving grace…be specific!
Amy Carmichael, missionary to India wrote, “Blessed are the single-hearted, for they shall enjoy much peace…If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you know what His will is.” (Ps. 46:10)
We live in an impatient society.
“Waiting for God is not laziness. Waiting for God is not going to sleep. Waiting for God is not the abandonment of effort.” G. Campbell Morgan explains what waiting for God means? (Source: The Westminster Pulpit, G. Campbell Morgan)
3 Goals for Those Waiting on the Lord
ACTIVITY:
Waiting for God means, first, activity under command. Stay busy doing what you know God wants you to do! Stay on mission! The following Bible verses remind us of our mission; like, gospel giving, gospel living, gospel investing, loving others, sacrificing for others, living holy lives, and doing it all for the glory of God. Matt. 28:19-20; I Jn. 3:16; 4:11; I Pet. 1:15; I Cor. 10:31
READY TO GO:
This is a readiness for any new command that may come. Do not put your stakes too deep in the ground…always be ready to move when God makes it clear that the waiting is over. This requires a teachable spirit & a simple trust in God! (Ps. 119:66; Ps. 121:1-2; Prov. 29:25)
DISCIPLINE:
This is the ability to do nothing until the command is given. Do not take over the Holy Spirit’s position of guide. The temptation is strong to say, “This is taking too long! Forget this – I’ll just do it my way!!” Stay disciplined and wait for God. You will never regret waiting on God…His timing is impeccable! Remember during your time of chaos that God has thoughts of peace for you! (Jer. 29:11; I Cor. 14:33)
We must trust the Lord and stand our ground when all is quiet. The Lord is working behind the scenes!
“Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.” Psalm 27:14
Stay on Mission
Be Ready to Move
Don’t rush ahead of God