In the Waiting Room of life: What to do

All of us go through periods in life that seem exactly like being in the waiting room at the hospital. You have prayed and submitted your petition to God, now what next? Often, things may seem to be going wrong even though you are of strong faith and wondering where is God in all of this. Or as a result of disobedience to God you are in a situation requiring God's immediate assistance. I have often heard some Christians ask, 'what do I do while waiting on God in one situation or another?' Personally, I have encountered several episodes in my own life that required long periods of waiting on the Lord and what I have learnt over these periods is what I share below. It is important to bear in mind that while what you do or don't do during the waiting period may not necessarily determine God's response, your attitude over that period will affect your ability to handle God's response.

To begin, I would like for us to read about Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, in 1 Samuel 1 (read the whole passage if you can). To give you the background, Hannah was childless and as if that on its own wasn't sufficient to make her unhappy, her rival, Penninah (who had children), also provoked her at the slightest opportunity because of her childlessness. On one of the family's yearly trips to sacrifice and to worship God in Shiloh, Hannah decided to cry to God to bless her and remove the reproach of childlessness. We read below:

(1Sa 1:9-18 KJV) So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD. (10) And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. (11) And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. (12) And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth. (13) Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. (14) And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. (15) And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. (16) Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. (17) Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. (18) And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.

You will notice in the above scripture that Hannah, after her encounter at the temple, went home and was no longer unhappy. It suffices to point out here that Jesus Christ is now our High Priest as we read in Hebrews 5:5-6 (KJV) "So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." And just as Eli told Hannah, "Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him", listen to what Jesus Christ, our Greatest High Priest, says in the following scriptures:

(Mat 21:22 KJV) And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

(Joh 15:7 KJV)  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

(Joh 16:23 KJV)  ... Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.

In Hannah's time, what Eli said was very important to her because Eli, as the Priest, served as a mediator between God and His people. In the same vein, it is up to you to take Christ's word for it. Your attitude should be to believe and not to doubt after committing any situation into God's hands. This means to develop an attitude of trust without which the waiting period will seem like walking aimlessly in a desert that leads nowhere. Trust is very important during the waiting period otherwise why wait.

Jer 17:7-8 KJV  Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.  (8)  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

In addition, remembering the faithfulness of God in the past, be it in your own life or from His word about how He delivered His people, is critical for building trust in God. The following scripture describes the agony of the Psalmist during a period of waiting: 

(Psa 77:7-12 KJV)  Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? (8) Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? (9) Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. (10) And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. (11) I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. (12) I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.

Beloved, remembering the faithfulness of God in the past during the period of waiting on God helps to keep you in faith. It is important to note that this is faith that God commends as we read in Hebrews 11:1-2 (NIV), “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” Let me point out, that it is important to develop the attitude of faith and trust once you commit your life to Christ even before getting into any situation that requires you to wait on God. This also means that your words and actions must agree with what God says about your situation. 

I would like to give an example from my own life experience of how your action should align with your belief in relation to God's word. This happened while living in Ghana, in West Africa. I had been married for almost 3 years without a child. It was the morning of January 2, 2008. I was doing dishes, and as I begun to ponder over the past year and what the new year held, tears started welling up in my eyes because of my childlessness. Right in the kitchen, I cried out to God and asked Him why He was taking so long to bless me with a child. Believe me, we all go through moments when we have to ask God hard questions and that is exactly what I did. I started to pray while in tears and I petitioned God to speak to me that morning about my childlessness even if He was going to speak through the walls. Yes, I did! I was hurting so bad because I believed it was not impossible for Him to bless me with a child. And guess what, God spoke that morning. While I was still praying, my cell phone rang and when I picked the call it was a lady who had been introduced to me a year earlier by another Christian friend. The lady, who had the gift of prophecy, said to me, "God asked me to call and tell you that a year from now you will have a child." To put this into perspective, it was not the norm for this lady to call me and the few times I had spoken to her I was the one who initiated those calls. So you can imagine my shock that day. After the call ended, I quickly wiped my tears and I decided to start buying clothes for the child even though I had not conceived. It wasn't an easy journey from that day until I conceived but I knew within my heart, and also based on God's faithfulness in the past, that God will be true to His promise. And true to God's promise, I conceived naturally and had my first child the following year. To God be the glory! Unless you have heard contrary from God directly about what you are believing Him for, keep your faith alive because He is faithful always. 

As joyful as it is to receive God's promise (not just from prophesy but also from His word), sometimes, we may feel tempted to help God to bring to pass what He has promised, such as was the case with Sarah, Abraham's wife, after being promised a child. I will share with you some of the things that I experienced during the period from the time I received God's promise until its realization. Between February and May of that same year, in 2008, urged by family and friends, I visited 3 different gynecologists, all of whom told me fibroids had covered most of my womb. It seemed impossible to naturally conceive given the diagnosis and it was recommended I had surgery to remove all the fibroids and proceed with the expensive option of Intro Vitro Fertilization (IVF). To avoid this expensive option, I contemplated trying the traditional option and decided to visit 2 herbal clinics I knew. The very day I made the decision, I was driving to work and was behind a commercial vehicle that had the inscription "Don't rush." I didn't give much thought to that and decided to visit one of the herbal clinics the following day with my husband. As we drove to the location, there was another car (this car was different from the one I saw the previous day) right in front of us that had the same inscription "Don't rush" and I nearly asked my husband to turn back but ignored it again. Fortunately or unfortunately, when we arrived we were informed that their machine for testing before proceeding with the herbal treatment had broken down and they asked us to return the following week. After we left, I decide not to visit any herbal clinic, but to believe God, to eat right, and keep confessing positively and it wasn't long before I conceived. Little did I know that that herbal clinic, unknown to most patients, operated by integrating herbal healing with spiritual practices (not based on biblical principles). To be clear, I do not believe all herbal clinics are spiritually-based, as I later learnt about this particular clinic, but the point to note here is that during the waiting period of life it is important to be in tune with the Holy Spirit to guide your steps. 

There are also times that like Jonah, our disobedience to God has landed us in situations where we must wait on God for His salvation or deliverance. Also, in moments such as we read below, it is easy to give up, see verses 4 and 7: 

(Jon 2:1-10 KJV) Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, (2) And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. (3) For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.  (4) Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.  (5) The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. (6) I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.  (7) When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. (8) They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.  (9)  But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. (10) And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

Because it is so easy to give up during the period of waiting it is important that you continue in prayer despite our agony in the waiting room of life. In verse 8 of Jonah 2 above, we read how one can miss God's mercy and favor when in the quest for quick solutions to problems you choose to pursue "lying vanities" (i.e. following after idols). As hopeless as Jonah's situation was, it was his confidence in God's power to save him that brought him out of the fish's belly. Some people, in situations like Jonah's, may not be able to handle it alone during the waiting period. This makes staying in fellowship with fellow believers very important so that in periods of waiting, particularly, when it is so hard to bear it all alone, you can count on others to bear you up in prayer. What Paul wrote in one of his letters to the Hebrews is instructive in this regard:    

(Heb 10:23-25 KJV) Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)  (24)  And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:  (25)  Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Dear Christian friend, I want you to understand that God, who Himself is a God of patience (Rom 15:5), rewards patient waiting and patience is a virtue we are asked to emulate as Christians. The following scriptures are helpful as we think on these:

(Psa 40:1 KJV) I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. 

Psa 37:7 KJV  Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. ...(34) "Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it." 

Heb 6:12 KJV  That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Heb 10:35-36 KJV  Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.  (36)  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

Jas 5:10-11 KJV  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. (11) Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

I will end with the following scriptures to encourage you to keep on praying and not to faint and also to be filled with thanksgiving and of good courage at all times and to allow the peace of God to fill your heart during the time in the waiting room of life. 

(Luk 18:1-8 KJV)  And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; (2) Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: (3) And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. (4) And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; (5) Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. (6)  And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. (7) And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? (8) I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

(Php 4:6-7 KJV) Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (7) And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

(Psa 27:14 KJV) Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

(1Jn 5:14-15 KJV) And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: (15) And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

I reiterate John's words: if we know that He hears our prayers, then we are sure to receive the petitions that we desire of Him. Beloved, let us trust God and stay in faith for He is a God who never fails. God will surely come through and not delay. Continue to pursue righteousness and stand in prayer with others in similar sufferings as yourself and in due season, and by God's grace you will experience the fulfillment of His promises.  

I am of the belief that there are no hard and fast rules about what to do in the waiting room of life but when we are able to share our experiences it can help to grow the faith of other believers and that is why I see the need to share this. Of course, I will be happy to read from others about their own experiences while in the waiting room of life so please leave me a comment if you have something to share on this.

Stay blest!