Lesson's from Life's Waiting Room
- Julie-Anne England
- Mar 28, 2021
- 6 min read
My life has been a series of “waiting rooms”. I was in the waiting room for marriage for over 8 years. From the 1st beautiful dream of a precious baby who I knew so clearly, to his actual birth I was in the waiting room for 20 years! For my dream house.... still waiting!
It's really hard to wait. I always said that when God was creating me, he got to the bin marked “patience” and realised he had run out and so I didn't get any ;) . I hated waiting for anything. I used to get annoyed if the web page I was on took more than 3 seconds to load. I used to get annoyed if the traffic light took more than 30 seconds to change to green. So when it came to the big things like waiting on a husband and for God to bless me with kids, well I really struggled.
I always thought I would be one of those people who married young, like 20 years young. When I found myself with no prospects of marriage and chronically single at 26, I wondered what was going on. I had never really had a proper boyfriend and after my car accident at 18, that left me with many many scars both inside and out, I wondered whether it was a dream I would have to let go of.
It took me quite a while to realise that the waiting room didn't have to be a time of pain. Through spending much time living in the season of waiting, I discovered treasure that I hadn't be able to see before. The waiting season actually held within it a vat of treasures that enriched and grew me in a way I had never before seen.
Here are eight treasures I found hiding in the waiting rooms of life:
1. Joy
Waiting often brings frustration, impatience and annoyance. It's easy to see what you don't currently have and overlook all the good things in your life. When I was single, my struggle with insecurity came to float as I told myself I wasn't good enough to marry because of all my scars. But with time spent in the waiting room, instead of these things getting worse, God used them.
He used this time to teach me to be dependent on Him, not the thought of a husband. He used this time to teach me thankfulness as I was able to truly embrace what I already had. He used this time to show me that His joy was all I needed. Finding joy in a season of lack or waiting, does wonders for your soul. Its when you can find God's joy anywhere that you will truly live a life of abundance.
2. Peace
There is a powerful peace that can be found in the season of the waiting room. Having a deep knowledge and understanding that God knows and wants the best for you can bring a peace you never knew existed. The season of the waiting room should be used to our benefit, not as a time of pain and heartache but as a time of resting in God's love and knowing that His timing is the best for us. When we can grasp that knowledge, His peace will fill us and allow us to navigate this season with confidence knowing God is in control.
3. God
God is often overlooked more frequently when life is going the way we want. Think about it, when life is good, our family is well and your finances are strong, we often don't need God as much. It's easy to go into coast mode and move on autopilot. However, when we are in a season when we are striving for something or desiring something more in our lives we often use this time to turn to God for His involvement. For me, my waiting room times made me draw closer to God. I used this time to seek Him deeper, pray about His path for my life more diligently and reconnect with Him. This waiting room time blessed me with a deeper relationship with my God.
4. Endurance
Back in 2015 I heard a soft whisper into my heart that God had a new baby coming into our lives. I had two daughters at this time and my pregnancies had been difficult to say the least. After my second daughter was born, the doctors told me it was too risky to have another.
After the God whisper that God was going to bless me with another child, I entered a new “waiting room” season. For 2 years I waited for this new dream to come to pass. Finally I found myself pregnant. I was elated! Then one night when I was 8 weeks pregnant, after I had put my daughters to bed, I felt something warm run down my legs. I had started bleeding, heavily. The pregnancy wasn't supposed to continue according to doctors, but during this time I discovered a strength I never knew I had. I realised that God had blessed me with this child and He was in control. God's strength pulled me through this tough season and boldly into the next.
5. Empathy
In other waiting room times of believing for a child of my own, I had dealt with the heartbreak of miscarriages. Losing a child in utero was essentially the death of long awaited dream. Although this was heartbreaking it actually showed me empathy like I had never known before. After this experience I was able to identify and in turn comfort other mums who were going through what I had. I was able to speak life to them and encourage them in God. Without dealing with this waiting room season I couldn't have connected with these beautiful women in the same way as I did having experienced it.
6. Faith
During the waiting times we often turn our eyes to see what others are doing. This can be a good thing if we are looking in the right direction. Instead of using this time as a comparison for what we don't have, we can use this time to look at others that are leaving the waiting room with their miracles. This in turn can build faith in us as we see God performing miracles for others, knowing that if He can do it for others then He can do it for us. This is also the time to remind ourselves of the other times in our lives that God has come through for us. When we revisit the miracles and the things He has blessed us with after past waiting rooms, it refreshes in us His ability to do it again.
7. Patience
Rather than becoming more impatient from my time in the waiting room of life, I was actually able to do the unexpected – I actually found patience. This was as a result of having to wait, meditating on God's goodness and His perfect timing and looking back to realise that the things He promised really did come at the right time. Habakkuk 2:3 says “For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.” Each waiting season in me produced more patience and I no longer stress about street lights, frown at web pages or sigh in frustration at the things I am still waiting for.
8. Wisdom
Proverbs 4:7 says "Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all your getting get understanding". Wisdom comes from seeking the truth, spending time in God's word and growing through trials and hard times. Waiting room seasons teach us so many things and these lessons allow us to grow in our wisdom and flourish with understanding.
Although you never wish for the waiting room seasons or beg for hard times, these are the things in our lives that allow us to grow. I look back on my waiting room times and I thank God for giving me the strength to stay strong in these times, for the grace to help me grow rather than cave in and for the blessings that came out of these seasons.
Are you in a waiting room right now? What are you struggling with the most? Take heart that God knows your future and wants to bless you. Use this time to grow and move closer to Him.