I was Standin' on a Corner in Winslow, Arizona waiting.... 'The Waiting Room'

I was Standin' on a Corner in Winslow, Arizona waiting.... 'The Waiting Room'
By Wil Dershimer

July 13, 2009

Earlier, I was standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona waiting.... (Eagles 1970s)

Well actually, I was sitting in a GMC dealer's waiting room in Buford, Georgia waiting on my truck to be serviced.

However, waiting gave me cause to reflect on the service I heard the previous day at NorthPoint Community Church. This is where my son & family attend. Pastor Andy Stanley was on vacation, so the sermon was delivered by the Buckhead Church's campus pastor, Jeff Henderson. (The Buckhead Church is a branch of NorthPoint)

The topic of his sermon was, 'The Waiting Room'. How often are we sitting in a waiting room, most likely not enjoying the wait and probably trying to talk ourselves into being patient. This is hard to do, especially for people like me that generally like to have a couple things going on at the same time, like listening to TV or XM radio and working on a computer, or maybe all 3 at the same time.

As Jeff indicated, we often are waiting, getting impatient, and just want to take matters into our own hand and get the job completed. Like, operating on our self instead of the doctor we are waiting on to do the job. Or, servicing my own truck instead of waiting for the GMC dealer specialists to do the servicing.

Well, the point is, we often are waiting on God, in his waiting room. How many times have we given up and decided to do it 'on our own'. Jeff used the illustration from the Bible of Abram and Sarai and God's Covenant with Abram (Genesis 15). Eventually, they quit waiting and did it their selves. The result was a son, Ishmael (Genesis 16) and Sarai lost her maidservant, Hagar, through the strife that this caused. Plus the ultimate conflicts between the Arabs (Ishmael's descendants) and the Jews, (Isaac's descendants). Trying to fulfill the Covenant themselves, most likely was not God's way. They just quit waiting.

It is very difficult at times to wait on God. Jeff gave us a little card that contained a prayer that I would like to share:

"Heavenly Father, Thank you for the promise that I am your handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which you have prepared in advance for me to do. But I need you to encourage me this week. Thank you for preparing me during this season of waiting. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

I would like to encourage all of us that are waiting on God. Consider writing a note to those that you know are waiting, and waiting, and waiting, and encourage them to continue to wait on God in God's waiting room.

Wil
(Information adapted from sermon by Jeff Henderson at North Point Community Church, July 12, 2009)