Daily pearls from the shore 🫧 Waiting Rooms If there were ever a list of the longest waiting, my name would probably be at the top of it. I remember my college days when my friend and I used to travel from our hometown to our college in another city about an hour and a half away. We did this daily for the first year or so. Every morning, I would reach the bus stop around 6:15 AM and wait. And I would wait. And wait and wait and wait and then I would eventually call her home landline to enquire how far she was, only to discover she was still sleeping! Funny, Isn’t it? It may be hard to believe, but this happened almost every single day. And it was so hard to wait, as the people would start staring at me, while I stood there the whole time, as there was no place to sit, and no waiting room. So, if anybody understands waiting and the patience for it, I might still have the best of chances of topping that list. WAS IT EASY? NOOOOOOO. How did I feel? At that time, I still had a lot more patience, but was t pleasant? NOT AT ALL. Did I want to wait? NO WAY. But waiting comes for all kinds of things in life. It’s easy to wait for a courier these days because we know the date and time. Then, there are things in life for which we wait with no timeline. And what do we do during that waiting period, especially when we don’t have a timeline? There was a Prophet named Elijah who lived in a land that had been under drought for years. He told the king that it would rain. Thereafter, he waited. “Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. ‘Go and look toward the sea,’ he told his servant. And he went up and looked. ‘There is nothing there,’ he said. Seven times Elijah said, ‘Go back.’” (1 Kings 18: 42-43) There were no clouds, and he had no timeline for when there would be any. Still, what did Elijah do here? He waited. On his knees. Was he grumbling? No. Did his faith waver? No. Did he doubt? No. How do we know? He didn’t have time for all of that. He was busy worshipping. In faith, he declared that God will send rain. In the meantime, He worshipped God. He waited and hoped. Seven times he sent his servant to check for any sign of rain, while he himself remained on his knees. HE DIDN’T CHANGE HIS POSTURE. “In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and WAIT EXPECTANTLY.” (Psalms 5: 3) Like the psalmist, Elijah believed that the Lord had heard his voice and would grant his request. And He waited EXPECTANTLY, IN HOPE. It seems easier said than done. Waiting is easy when we know the timeline. But sometimes, we don’t know the date of delivery of a promise. In those times, we tend to get up and start fixing the situation ourselves, and end up birthing Ishmaels. “But they soon forgot what He (GOD) had done and DID NOT WAIT for His plan to unfold.” (Psalms 106: 11-13) God promised Abram a child, but there was no timeline, and after waiting for several years, he and his wife, Sarai, devised a plan and had a baby with a slave girl, naming him Ishmael. Did God not bless Abram with the promised child? He did. Isaac was born. (Genesis 16:1-16) It might be easy to believe a promise, but difficult to wait for it to materialise. Elijah didn’t make plans to beat drums and summon rain just because six times there were no clouds. He worshipped. Abram and Sarai, on the other hand, started with hopeful waiting for the promise, but gave up soon and made their own plan to fix the delay. See, it matters what we choose to do in the waiting rooms. We see all kinds of people in the waiting rooms - some people sleep, some read books, some kids play, and some people start walking up and down impatiently. Does impatience change anything? NOTHING. Does worship change anything? EVERYTHING! “I remain CONFIDENT of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. WAIT FOR THE LORD; be strong and take heart, and wait for the LORD.” (Psalms 27: 13-14) When we wait and wait expectantly, we hope in confidence. And hope strengthens us to wait more expectantly. WAITING IS ANOTHER POSTURE OF A DEEPER LEVEL OF TRUST. "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." (Isaiah 40: 31) CONVERT WAITING ROOMS INTO WORSHIP HALLS, And witness the goodness of the lord. And yes, the seventh time, the servant of Prophet Elijah did see a cloud. AND YES, IT RAINED LIKE ANYTHING. “The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” So, Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’” Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, A HEAVY RAIN STARTED FALLING, and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The power of the LORD came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.” (1 Kings 18: 44-45). #MonsoonVibes #WorshipPower #mentalhealthandwait #psycholgybehindwait #ChristianCounselingResources