Rusty George: I'm not a fan of waiting rooms, but truthfully,
who is doctor's offices?
DMV Airport Gates.
When your flight's.
There's something about waiting that just grates on us.
We're checking our phones every 30 seconds.
We're sighing loudly, hoping someone notices our frustration.
It makes time stretch on so long.
But here's the thing.
Our entire faith is built on waiting.
The Old Testament, 4,000 years of waiting for a Messiah, the New Testament,
2000 years waiting for his return.
Your life.
Waiting for healing.
Waiting for answers.
Waiting for breakthrough.
Well, Tom Petty got it.
The waiting is the hardest part.
But what if I told you that the waiting isn't wasted time?
What if the waiting is actually where God does his best work?
let's be honest, we live in an instant, everything culture, Amazon
Prime, two day shipping is too slow.
We want it same day.
Netflix, we binge entire seasons in a weekend because waiting for next
week's episode is torture food.
We don't cook anymore.
We DoorDash, we've trained ourselves that waiting equals wasting.
That's us trying to speed up God's timeline.
It, it doesn't end well.
Listen, I get it because the stuff we're waiting for, it's not trivial.
Maybe you're waiting for a diagnosis that makes sense, a
relationship to be restored.
A job that actually fulfills you.
Kids who finally get their act together.
Financial breakthrough.
That's been years in the making.
The apostle Paul knew about waiting in Romans 8 25.
He writes, but if we hope for what we do not have, we wait for it patiently.
The Greek word there for wait patiently is a deeth, which means to wait with
outstretched hands like a little boy on tip toes at the window, watching for
his dad's car to pull in the driveway.
It's not passive, it's not resigned.
It's eager and active anticipation.
Let me take you through some waiting rooms in scripture.
Abraham and Sarah waited 25 years for the promise of a son.
Sarah literally laughed when God said she'd have a baby at 90,
but Isaac's name means laughter.
God gets the last laugh.
Joseph was betrayed by his brothers falsely accused, thrown into prison.
Waited 13 years before God's promise came true.
Genesis 50 20 says, you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good.
David anointed as king at 15, didn't make the throne until he was 30.
That's 15 years of running from Saul, hiding in caves,
wondering if God forgot about him.
Israel, waited 400 years through silence between the Old
Testament and the New Testament.
No prophets, no word from God, just waiting.
And then the people waiting in darkness have seen a great light.
So here's what I've learned, and trust me, I've learned this the hard way.
God is more interested in who you are becoming than what you are getting.
When Lori and I moved from Kentucky to California 20 some years ago, I went
through a season of deep discouragement.
Our church was meeting in a movie theater.
It was expensive.
We were far from family with a 1-year-old daughter.
The church felt stuck and I remember thinking, God, I
thought you called me here.
Did I miss it?
Should we just go home?
I was in a waiting room.
I brought my family with me and I hated it.
But here's what I didn't see.
God was doing work in me that couldn't happen any other way.
He was teaching me dependence.
He was stripping away my need for approval.
He was showing me that ministry isn't about my success,
it's about his faithfulness.
James one, three and four says, the testing of your faith produces
perseverance, so let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature
and complete, not lacking anything.
The waiting isn't punishment, it's preparation.
There are three things that God does in the waiting.
The first is he deepens your trust.
When you can't see the path forward, you learn to trust the guide.
Abraham didn't know how God would fulfill the promise.
He just knew God would.
Romans four 20 and 21 says, Abraham did not waiver through unbelief
regarding the promise of God, but he was strengthened in his faith.
Being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
The second thing is God refines your character.
Gold doesn't become pure without fire.
Diamonds don't form without pressure, and faith doesn't mature without testing.
Romans five, three and four says, we also glory in our sufferings because
we know that suffering produces perseverance and perseverance.
Character and character hope.
The waiting is your training montage.
The third thing God does is he redirects your future.
Sometimes we're waiting for God to change our circumstances, and God's saying,
I'm actually trying to change you.
Psalm 27 14 says, wait for the Lord.
Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
That phrase take heart.
It literally means let your heart be stout, firm established.
The waiting isn't about getting what you want, it's about
becoming what God needs you to be.
So here's the question.
How do we actually do this?
How do we wait with hope instead of despair?
Romans 1513 gives us the blueprint.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in
Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Now notice a few things here.
First, hope is a person, not an emotion.
He's real.
No matter how we feel, the God of hope, not the feeling of
hopelessness or hope fullness, our hope isn't grounded in circumstances.
It's grounded in who God is.
This is why we light the first advent candle, the prophecy
candle, the candle of hope.
Because hope isn't wishful thinking.
Hope is confident expectation based on God's proven track record.
The second thing is hope requires trust.
As you trust in him, you can't manufacture hope through positive
thinking or manifestation.
Hope flows from trust, and trust is built through relationship.
I think about my daughters when they were little and scared of the dark.
I'd say, daddy's here, you're safe.
They didn't need to see me.
They just needed to trust my voice, and that's what God's
asking in the waiting, I'm here.
Will you trust my voice?
Another thing, hope overflows by the spirit's power so that you may overflow
with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This isn't grit your teeth, white knuckle.
Fake it till you make it hope.
This is supernatural spirit empowered against all odds.
Hope
so.
What do we do next?
Here's some practical steps to keep it simple.
First.
Remember, God's faithfulness.
Journal or write down times that God came through before.
When you're in the dark.
Remember the light?
Psalm 77, 11 says, I'll remember the deeds of the Lord.
Yes, I'll remember your miracles of long ago.
Second, stay connected to community.
Don't isolate.
Ecclesiastes four verses nine and 10 says two are better than one.
If one of them falls down, one can help the other up.
The first advent was spent in community, marry with Elizabeth Shepherds with
each other, wise men traveling together and finally serve someone else.
The fastest way out of your own funk is to help someone in theirs.
Plus, it's hard to have a pity party when you're serving at a soup kitchen.
Trust me, I've tried nobody there wants to hear my difficulties
of too many presents to wrap
Well.
Here's where this wraps up.
The beautiful part of the Christmas story we often miss is God didn't
just send Jesus and then wait in heaven for us to get our act together.
Emmanuel, God is with us.
He entered the waiting room with us, and Jesus knows what it's
like to wait 30 years of obscurity before three years of ministry.
He knows what it's like to cry out.
How long, oh Lord, how long?
And here's the promise.
He's in the waiting room with you right now.
You're not waiting alone.
You are not forgotten.
You are not abandoned.
The God of hope is filling you even now with joy and peace as you trust him.
So this week, as you light that first advent candle, the candle
of hope, remember the waiting isn't wasted, the darkness isn't
permanent, and the light is coming.
Next week, finding peace in the chaos.
Until then, keep it simple.