The Waiting Room

Waiting is a big part of life. Whether it’s waiting in line at a dentist office, hospital, amusement park, airport, traffic, or even in line at grocery store, everyone can relate to having to wait. I know for me, I am not always the best at it. I start thinking of a million things I could be doing instead, or if it is a big delay I start to let my mind wander to negative thoughts like “This will never end,” “What is taking so long,” “I will be in this line for the rest of my life,” etc.

What I have learned is that there is an art to waiting well and it is a skill that will help in many different areas of life, especially in our relationship with God. When it seems like His promises are taking a long time to come to pass, our attitude in the waiting room shows how much we trust our Heavenly Father.

In the book of Joshua, the Israelites have been wandering in the desert for over 40 years under the leadership of Moses. The journey out of Egypt was originally supposed to be a 2 week journey but because of their disobedience in the wilderness, it lasted 40 years and only Joshua and Caleb were allowed to enter the promised land.

After the old generation passed away, the new generation, led by Joshua, entered into the promised land to conquer the land of Canaan. They crossed over the Jordan river and then they encountered their first major obstacle; the walls of Jericho. These were massive stone walls at least 13 feet tall and backed by a 28 feet tall watchtower.

This was the command the Lord gave to Joshua, “You shall march around the city for six days. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, that all the people shall shout with a great shout; then the wall of the city will fall down flat.” (Joshua 6:2-5)

What a strange command for God to give to Joshua. March around the walls for 7 days and then on the 7th day walk around 7 more times and then blow a trumpet and shout at the top of your lungs? The logical thing to do would be to use strategy to sneak up on the enemy or use brute force to invade. But God’s plan is bigger than human logic, power, or strength.

This is what happened on the 7th day: “The people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.” (Joshua 6:20)

The people of God must have questioned the sanity of Joshua when he gave this command. They must have thought, “What are we doing,” or “What are we waiting for?” However, God was emphasizing that they must follow His instructions exactly if the walls were ever going to come down supernaturally.

In our “I have to have it right now” society, the concept of waiting is counter- cultural. Yet it is the way faith works. God’s ways often require period of waiting. In fact, sometimes God has us in the waiting room for a certain period of our life to test our level of trust in Him and also develop our character. He knows that if he blesses us with everything we want right when we want it, then our character won’t be strong enough to sustain it. So He keeps us in the waiting room.

Maybe today you are in a season of waiting. Maybe it’s a prayer that hasn’t been answered, or a promotion you have been working for, or a job you recently interviewed for. Just remember the command given to Joshua at Jericho, it’s God’s job to deliver and provide for His people, it’s our job to trust and wait with a good attitude in the waiting room.

The Bigger Picture: Be patient because God’s promises will come to pass just maybe not in the way or time we expect.