“When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So, for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.” Acts 11:23-26
This morning, I will be sitting in the waiting room of one of my doctors, waiting for my turn to be examined. Sitting in that clean room with maskless coughing going on across from me…well I knew that I might be taking something home with me today. While waiting, I was reminded of the times when I was living in Haiti, that I would have to wait…standing in line for an hour at the bank, just to withdraw some cash for the month. I remember when I was really sick and went to a Haitian doctor’s office to get a blood test to find out what kind of varmint had entered into my body. The office was not really that clean and looking at the needle and test tube, my immediate thoughts were how many patients before me had used these same instruments. The test was inconclusive.
The children in the attached photo from Cap Haitian have been and are still waiting when I took this photo. They came to school around 8 and probably four of them hadn’t anything to eat since yesterday. They were hungry and were waiting, smelling the wonderful aroma of the food being prepared in the outdoor kitchen while they were learning…and waiting. Then a bell rang, and they washed their hands, watched their food arrive and waited until a plate was in front of every child. Then they prayed and the waiting time was over. Until tomorrow.
We have all been in God’s waiting room. My congregation here in IL has been in a vacancy for two and a half years; we have been waiting. Our new shepherd will be installed on May 5; we rejoice. In the country of Haiti, many have been waiting for years for the gang related chaos to come to an end. Many school kids in PAP have not been able to go to school for several weeks and there is no daily lunch brought to them…they wait.
Our time of God-ordained waiting time may last for a day, a week or many years. It can be disappointing and the devil will try to break you. The Lord uses the disappointment to lead you to your own Tarsus; otherwise known as His waiting room. In His waiting room, He begins to work deep within your soul until you, like Paul, gain such a renewed perspective, you can honestly confess, "When I am weak, He is strong." When that happens, your name is called, your food is brought and the reason for your mission enters your journey.
Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you,
Jay