Previous Reflections
REFLECTIONS
November 17th, 2013Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
James 1:23-24
The Waiting Room
Someone occupied almost every chair in the room, each person waiting there for the same reason. Good health is important to everyone, and the filled waiting room evidenced it. Some sat anxiously, some drowsily, and others seemed content just sitting there. The people represented various walks of life with different stories to tell, different personalities to tell them with, and different characterizations to describe them. But in common, all sat in waiting to hear what the doctor had to say.
Waiting, waiting, it seems such a waste. A lot of people have no patience for waiting at all. Yet there are others who find themselves sitting endlessly in a waiting room hoping for something to come along to make their lives better.
Meanwhile, projects go unattended because maybe tomorrow will be a better day. Opportunities pass by in hopes that tomorrow will offer better ones. Dreams are postponed until more time or money becomes available. Ideas are delayed awaiting perceived barriers to come down; and talents are wasted while waiting for approvals that are not needed. Waiting, waiting—the waiting room is filled with people just sitting and hoping for something beyond their control to happen to make things better. And sometimes that is where God wants us to be.
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord,” Psalm 27:14 tells us. So there clearly are times when we should do little else; after all, God closes doors that cannot be opened. But He also opens doors that cannot be closed. So He tells us to knock and the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7) God hears the knock. Sometimes it just takes him a little while to answer the door. So He encourages us to keep on moving.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9) Now that does not sound like waiting room talk to me. And nowhere does He tell us to just sit in the waiting room outside the door without knocking on it.
Yet too often we sit in a waiting room content to wait for a door to open before a project can begin, or the dreams of a lifetime are pursued, when all that is needed is to knock on the door. When we do we may find it hasn’t been locked.
You are the light of the world,
Richard +
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