What to Do While You Are in the Waiting Room of Life

Hebrews 6:12 (NKJV)
…that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through
 faith and patience inherit the promises.

Waiting Rooms – for most people it’s one of their least favorite places to be. Whether it be in a doctor’s office, in a bank or at the airport, it reflects a condition of wanting to be someplace else but not being able to get there – at least for the moment.

Spiritually speaking, believers spend their fair share of time in waiting rooms also.  It’s those times when the believer has found a promise/promises in the Word of God and makes his faith declaration that those promises are for him. Instantaneous answers to prayer are wonderful, but more often than not, there is a wait involved to see the promise fulfilled; it’s called getting from the “amen to there it is.” 

Fortunately, the Word gives us a simple pathway to surviving in the waiting room while we wait to receive God’s promises and it is found in Hebrews 6:12; it is through faith and patience that we receive the promises of God.  Faith – which is simply taking God at His Word – starts the process of receiving the manifestation of what we are believing for.  Generally speaking, that is not the challenging part of the process. When we release our faith, it is because we have had a revelation that the promise in God’s Word is for us. It is personal, like God is speaking to us directly, and therefore, easy to embrace.  That is what is referred to as the “amen,” which means “so be it.”

Patience is required to get to the “there it is.”  The mistake often made by believers is in thinking that patience is simply putting up with something.  If that is the focus, it will be hard to stay the course to receive the manifestation of whatever is desired.  One definition from Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary is, “Persevering; constant in pursuit…calmly diligent.”  Biblical patience is simply “staying the course” and not being pulled off by outside circumstances. “Putting up with” something is a defense measure; “constant in pursuit, calmly diligent” puts the believer in an offensive position.

Where does a believer get Biblical patience?  One doesn’t have to go far; it is one of the Fruit of the Spirit which every believer has. Love, joy, peace, patience…. Notice the order of the listing of the Fruit.  It is impossible to experience patience without love, joy, and peace being at work in a believer’s life.  Without those three fruit at work, it will be impossible to be “calmly diligent” as the definition suggests. Love, joy, and peace are anchors for patience.  Patience, in turn anchors faith and carries the enthusiasm level of the faith declaration over the finish line to manifestation. When it comes to the promises of God, according to 2 Corinthians 1:20, they are all “yes and amen” (which means they are for us!).  What gets us from the “amen to there it is” is what one well-known minister of the gospel calls the “Power Twins”; faith and patience, a dynamic duo that produces victory every time! 

Hebrews 6:12 The Passion Bible
So don’t allow your hearts to grow dull or lose your enthusiasm, but follow
 the example of those who fully receive what God has promised because of
 their strong faith and patient endurance.

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