The Waiting Room

This post is not for everyone. It’s important for you to take this back to the Lord and confirm with Him that this is for you. If you do not have a prayer life, there’s no better time to open one up. This should not be the first time you are hearing about this and if it is, take the wisdom and invite Jesus in, to further speak to you about who He is and who you are according to His will. If this is for you at this time it should serve as confirmation and give you understanding. The Holy Spirit is the author of revelation, not me. Glory be to God!

—For those of you that are here for the full experience and want to gain further understanding of the subject— I invite you to study 1 Samuel chapters 1 and 2:1-11 — Get to know the character of Hannah and how she transformed throughout her waiting season as well as the difference between the way she prayed before she knew the character of God and after. —

Remember when you were a kid and you had an appointment to be at? You had certain requirements you needed to reach for school purposes, needed glasses in order to see properly or whatever appointment was unique to the greater benefit of your life— it was always a matter of your parents making a call to the office and handling it in the best way possible. They would set up the appointment because they knew what you needed and all you had to do was get in the car. They would take you to the office, check you in and you’d wait in a waiting room for your name to be called. The waiting room is filled with people who are there to see the same person for similar reasons and there are posters on the wall all around you that tell you more about where you are. Often times you will see photos displayed on the walls of who you’re about to see and the tables will carry magazines and brochures to give you more information about the office and what it has to offer. You see others get called back into the next room but you never worry about not getting called back yourself. Your turn comes at the right time. I say this because to receive this revelation I need you to remember what that feels like. Put yourself in that place. Were you ever worried that your turn wouldn’t come? Sometimes we go to God with a petition and he says yes, but wait. This takes us into a season of standing in faith for whatever we are believing God about and this waiting season looks different for everyone. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share with you what the Holy Spirit revealed to me: the atmosphere of your waiting season is a reflection of where you place your focus. You don’t have to be miserable in the waiting room. Receive it like a child. Let me explain.

In 1 Samuel 1 we see the story of Hannah who shared a husband with another woman. This word isn’t going to be for the spiritually immature, you’re gonna need to open up your eyes and ears for this one. Hannah watched another woman recieve children from the same husband— she had not received any of her own. She had everything she needed, was loved, valued and being served a choice portion. She was taunted by what someone else was receiving/producing from the same source as her. That tormenting spirit caused her to reject what she was being fed at the table that had been set for her. She belonged at this table but because her focus was on what she didn’t have, she was filled with sorrow. Her husband approached her and said, “Why aren’t you eating? Why be downhearted just because you have no children? You have me— isnt that better than having ten sons?” (1 Samuel 1:8). She belonged at the table simply because she was the bride of the man— he loved her without her bringing anything to the table. She had placed her self worth in what she was able to produce rather than who she was in her husbands eyes and how he felt about her. The Lord had not yet blessed her with a child but that had not made her invaluable. Hannah’s self perception was rooted in a state of lack and comparison. When we idolize the blessing, we miss out on the full experience of Gods love for us in the wait. He wants to provide for us according to our needs and will expand our territory and cause us to multiply in His perfect timing.

We can experience our waiting season from an unhealthy space when we look around at our brothers and sisters who have already received their promises and come into agreement with the idea that we are not worthy or aren’t doing enough. We are all connected to the same source, waiting on the things God has spoken to us about but we aren’t all going to be receiving it at the same time. Our receipt of the promises are not a reflection of Gods love for us or our worth, it’s simply a matter of God’s perfect timing. Imagine how different Hannahs experience would have been had she focused on the fact that all of her needs were being provided for and she was being reassured and comforted through her sorrow. Are you focusing on what you don’t have or aren’t receiving in your waiting season instead of getting to know the one that’s in it with you? The enemy made a playground of Hannahs mind through the open doors of idolatry and coveting. Her heart lacked gratitude and longed for things she had yet to be given. You may be an adult in this world but in the spirit you are a child of God. If your parents wouldn’t leave you alone and confused in the waiting room while you wait for your name to be called, what makes you think your Father in Heaven would leave you that way as you wait to be called according to His purpose in His Kingdom? One of Hannahs biggest lessons to learn was how to release the timing and trust the character of God.

We know that God works all things together for those who love the Lord and Hannah never fell away from loving God in her wait, she stayed with the family she was a part of and she took her sorrow to the Lord, dropped down in prayer pleading for a son. He answered her prayer but no amount of sorrow or desperation sped up the process. While is is true according to Psalm 126:5-6 “Those who plant tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.” 1 Samuel 1:19 says “the Lord remembered her pleas and in due time she gave birth to a son”. It’s easy to get caught up in a mental prison of believing— if I just pray harder or I fast enough, then my promise will come in quicker. God keeps His promises and your prayers aren’t for nothing but don’t allow the timing to weigh your heart down in the wait. The Bible says in Galatians 6:9 “So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.” We aren’t receiving the harvest at an earlier time because we are doing what is good, we are walking in righteousness and obedience because it is good, and reaping the harvest at the right time because He is good. When we attach our prayer and fasting life to receiving a promise we are ultimately looking to take credit for the thing God is doing. The Holy Spirit is meant to lead our actions and our obedience is rooted in our love for Christ not our desire for a blessing. By the time she received her son, she understood spiritual maturity and how to give something back to the Lord at the right time. Her prayer structure changed, she stopped coming from a place of sorrow and anguish and began expressing gratitude in the fairness of who God is. She KNEW Him. She was not in awe of what He did or what she received— she praised who God is and how He did everything. Hannah recognized that it was not by her own strength that she was blessed when she was. She had been rid of the idolatry and gained understanding of the importance of the process and gained wisdom and discernment on timing.

Knowing the character of God means knowing that if He brought you to it, He will not leave you in it. He will sit with you in that waiting room and answer any questions you have about what it is that you are walking in to. When your name is called and that door opens, He will walk through it with you. He set it up, He brought you there, He’s in the waiting. You are not alone. The best thing you can do in the waiting room is take advantage of the resources around you. If you know that you are in a waiting season it is wise to observe your surroundings. We can fight fear of the unknown by gaining knowledge of where we are currently and who we are with. Use the waiting room to get to know the one who brought you there. Embrace the opportunity to spend time with your Father. Is His presence not enough to rejoice about? You deserve the experience God intended for you. He loves you. I pray this found the hearts of those who needed it.

If you relate to this I want to offer you a prayer to help restructure your heart and recenter your focus.

• Heavenly Father, thank You for Your presence. God I thank You for directing my focus and revealing to me all that I have in You. Thank You for pouring your love out over me and keeping my heart from living in lack. Give me a heart to be obedient and make me aware of all there is to be grateful for. I surrender my thoughts to You that You, Oh God, would fortify my mind. Thank you for being my refuge. Thank you for being a loving Father. Keep me in the steps you have for me, don’t let me go before you. Lead my prayers and fasting. Lead me in my wait. I surrender the timing and thank You for increasing my faith in times of weakness. Glory be to You, I pray in Jesus name. Amen.

Until next time,

Ari