WEBVTT 00:00:09.730 --> 00:00:15.009 Hello, my friends, and welcome back to the Spray UMC Podcast. 00:00:15.250 --> 00:00:16.530 I'm Hoyt. 00:00:17.489 --> 00:00:20.370 Most of us know something about waiting rooms. 00:00:20.849 --> 00:00:31.649 We wait in a doctor's office, a hospital, or in my case, a dialysis center, and beside a phone that refuses to ring. 00:00:32.770 --> 00:00:40.530 We wait for an appointment, an answer, a test result, or news that may change our lives. 00:00:41.410 --> 00:00:46.050 Those rooms are uncomfortable because we have so little control. 00:00:47.969 --> 00:00:54.850 We cannot make the doctor arrive, hurry the laboratory, or force the answer to come. 00:00:55.410 --> 00:00:57.010 We can only wait. 00:00:59.090 --> 00:01:01.969 There are also waiting rooms of the soul. 00:01:02.850 --> 00:01:17.409 We wait for healing, direction, reconciliation, grief to become bearable, a door to open, or prayer to be answered. 00:01:18.450 --> 00:01:25.170 The hardest part is often not knowing how long the waiting will last or what the answer will be. 00:01:26.370 --> 00:01:29.010 So today we will consider this question. 00:01:29.730 --> 00:01:34.129 How do we remain faithful when we cannot hurry the answer? 00:01:36.129 --> 00:01:44.049 Much of life takes place between prayer and answer, promise and fulfillment, beginning and completion. 00:01:45.170 --> 00:01:48.049 Our world has trained us to expect speed. 00:01:48.530 --> 00:01:55.010 We can send a message across the country in seconds and have a package delivered the next day. 00:01:55.409 --> 00:02:03.810 Then we become frustrated when circumstances, other people, and even God do not move according to our schedule. 00:02:05.730 --> 00:02:08.370 Faith does not give us control over time. 00:02:09.169 --> 00:02:11.969 Scripture is filled with people who waited. 00:02:12.689 --> 00:02:16.050 Abraham and Sarah waited for a promised child. 00:02:17.330 --> 00:02:20.530 Joseph waited through slavery and imprisonment. 00:02:21.810 --> 00:02:24.129 Israel waited for deliverance. 00:02:24.689 --> 00:02:27.409 David waited before becoming king. 00:02:28.849 --> 00:02:32.930 Simon and Anna waited for the Messiah. 00:02:33.890 --> 00:02:36.849 They did not always wait calmly. 00:02:37.729 --> 00:02:43.490 They became tired, confused, frightened, and impatient. 00:02:44.530 --> 00:02:52.370 Their struggles remind us that finding it difficult to wait is not proof that we lack faith. 00:02:53.090 --> 00:02:56.129 Faithful people still find waiting difficult. 00:02:58.449 --> 00:03:01.569 Psalms one hundred thirty speaks from a place of distress. 00:03:02.210 --> 00:03:06.849 The psalmist does not pretend that everything has been already resolved. 00:03:07.810 --> 00:03:12.449 Instead he says I wait for the Lord. 00:03:12.930 --> 00:03:17.490 My soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. 00:03:17.890 --> 00:03:22.370 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning. 00:03:22.930 --> 00:03:25.729 Psalms one hundred thirty five and six. 00:03:26.610 --> 00:03:29.650 A watchman cannot command the sun to rise. 00:03:30.129 --> 00:03:32.370 He cannot shorten the night. 00:03:32.689 --> 00:03:37.650 His responsibility is to remain alert and trust that morning will come. 00:03:38.930 --> 00:03:41.650 Waiting upon God is something like that. 00:03:43.090 --> 00:03:47.890 It means trusting God's character whenever we cannot yet see the outcome. 00:03:48.930 --> 00:03:56.129 Our hope rests in God himself, not merely in receiving the particular answer we want. 00:03:56.930 --> 00:03:58.849 We can wait honestly. 00:03:59.170 --> 00:04:00.449 We can pray. 00:04:00.770 --> 00:04:07.250 Lord, I am tired, I am afraid, I do not understand. 00:04:08.210 --> 00:04:10.849 Help me remain faithful today. 00:04:11.729 --> 00:04:16.449 God does not require us to hide our weariness before coming into His presence. 00:04:20.129 --> 00:04:23.250 Biblical waiting is not passive resignation. 00:04:24.530 --> 00:04:38.610 While we wait, we continued praying, worshiping, loving our neighbors, fulfilling today's responsibilities, receiving appropriate care, and taking the next faithful step. 00:04:40.290 --> 00:04:49.250 Waiting upon God does not mean ignoring medical advice, refusing assistance, or remaining in danger. 00:04:49.970 --> 00:04:59.490 God often guides and cares for us through doctors, counselors, pastors, family members, and trusted friends. 00:05:00.370 --> 00:05:13.730 Sometimes the faithful response is to make the appointment, ask for help, have the difficult conversation, or walk through a door God has already opened. 00:05:15.009 --> 00:05:20.449 At other times we have done what we can, and the outcome remains beyond our control. 00:05:21.410 --> 00:05:28.850 Wisdom helps us distinguish between the steps that belong to us and the result that must be entrusted to God. 00:05:29.649 --> 00:05:37.730 It is worth asking, am I truly waiting upon God or am I avoiding something I already know I should do? 00:05:38.209 --> 00:05:44.930 And if I have done what belongs to me, can I release what I cannot control into God's hands? 00:05:47.490 --> 00:05:50.850 A delayed answer can feel like divine absence. 00:05:51.490 --> 00:06:02.930 We may wonder whether God hurt us, whether we prayed correct incorrectly, whether he is disappointed in us, or whether he has forgotten us. 00:06:04.370 --> 00:06:07.810 Scripture gives us permission to ask difficult questions. 00:06:08.449 --> 00:06:12.370 The Psalms contain lament as well as praise. 00:06:13.410 --> 00:06:20.530 Honest prayer is still prayer, and God is not threatened by our questions. 00:06:25.569 --> 00:06:29.329 We should also be careful about explaining someone else's waiting. 00:06:29.649 --> 00:06:43.569 We cannot assume that every delay is punishment, a test, or evidence of weak faith, nor should we promise that every painful circumstance will soon be replaced by something better. 00:06:44.769 --> 00:06:48.610 Sometimes we simply do not know why the waiting continues. 00:06:51.250 --> 00:06:56.930 God's silence is difficult, but silence is not the same as absence. 00:06:57.329 --> 00:07:00.850 Faith does not pretend to understand everything. 00:07:01.170 --> 00:07:06.449 Faith continues turning toward God even when the answer has not come. 00:07:09.089 --> 00:07:13.089 Luke tells us about two people who had learned to wait faithfully. 00:07:14.370 --> 00:07:20.689 Simon was waiting for the consolation of Israel. 00:07:22.129 --> 00:07:28.930 Anna had spent many years worshiping, fasting, and praying in the temple. 00:07:30.850 --> 00:07:34.209 Neither of them could control when the Messiah would come. 00:07:35.490 --> 00:07:39.009 Their waiting did not prevent them from living faithfully. 00:07:39.569 --> 00:07:43.649 They continued to worship, pray, and hope. 00:07:45.170 --> 00:07:49.810 Then Mary and Joseph carried the infant Jesus into the temple. 00:07:50.530 --> 00:07:54.610 Many people may have seen only another young family with a baby. 00:07:55.410 --> 00:08:00.530 Simon and Anna recognized that God was fulfilling his promise. 00:08:01.170 --> 00:08:10.129 Their years of waiting had taught them to watch for God's work, even when it appeared quietly and in a form others might overlook. 00:08:10.850 --> 00:08:13.410 Waiting can sharpen our attention. 00:08:13.810 --> 00:08:21.329 It can teach us to notice that grace does not arrive with noise or spectacle. 00:08:23.329 --> 00:08:26.850 Waiting is not merely a theological idea for me. 00:08:27.410 --> 00:08:30.449 Three days each week I go to dialysis. 00:08:31.649 --> 00:08:41.169 There is waiting for treatment to begin, waiting while the machine does its work, and waiting to see how my body will respond. 00:08:42.849 --> 00:08:51.729 Illness can make life feel governed by appointments, numbers, test results, and other people's schedule. 00:08:52.849 --> 00:08:55.250 Some days faith feels strong. 00:08:55.569 --> 00:09:02.769 On other days, faith may look like showing up for the next treatment because that is the faithful step in front of me. 00:09:04.689 --> 00:09:17.969 Grace may arrive through a kind word, a telephone call, a compassionate caregiver, a remembered scripture, or enough strength to endure one more hour. 00:09:18.449 --> 00:09:22.209 I do not need strength for every future treatment at once. 00:09:22.529 --> 00:09:25.569 I need sufficient grace for the present moment. 00:09:26.529 --> 00:09:32.609 Sometimes faithful waiting is simply showing up for the next thing God has placed before us. 00:09:41.409 --> 00:09:44.129 Waiting exposes our desire for control. 00:09:45.250 --> 00:09:55.569 It may uncover fear, anger, impatience, weariness, and expectations that we never placed before God. 00:09:57.250 --> 00:10:00.289 That does not mean God causes every painful delay. 00:10:00.529 --> 00:10:06.529 It means God can meet us and form us within circumstances we would never have chosen. 00:10:07.089 --> 00:10:19.250 Waiting can teach us dependence upon self-sufficiency, patience instead of control, compassion for others who wait in gratitude for daily grace. 00:10:19.889 --> 00:10:23.569 We may not recognize that growth while it is happening. 00:10:24.289 --> 00:10:31.089 Sometimes we see it only when we look back and realize that God sustained us one day at a time. 00:10:34.449 --> 00:10:40.769 Not every season of waiting ends with healing, reconciliation, or the answer we requested. 00:10:42.209 --> 00:10:49.489 Christian hope must never become a promise that earthly circumstances will always improve according to our wishes. 00:10:50.209 --> 00:10:54.849 Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes it is not yet. 00:10:55.409 --> 00:10:59.889 Sometimes God leads us in a direction we did not expect. 00:11:00.769 --> 00:11:06.929 And sometimes the burden remains while God gives us grace to endure it. 00:11:08.529 --> 00:11:14.929 Our hope rests in God's faithfulness, not in our ability to predict the answer. 00:11:15.649 --> 00:11:20.449 Our ultimate hope is resurrection and eternal life with Christ. 00:11:20.929 --> 00:11:27.329 Even when an earthly answer brings disappointment, God's love has not failed. 00:11:27.889 --> 00:11:36.449 This is also when the church must remain close, refusing to abandon those whose hope for answer did not come. 00:11:38.689 --> 00:11:44.369 If you are in a waiting room of the soul today, begin by telling God the truth. 00:11:45.089 --> 00:11:51.009 Ask for what you generally desire, and then place the outcome in his hands. 00:11:52.289 --> 00:11:55.409 Do the faithful work that belongs to today. 00:11:55.889 --> 00:11:57.250 Receive help. 00:11:57.569 --> 00:12:00.929 Remain connected to worship in Christian community. 00:12:01.649 --> 00:12:07.489 Notice the small signs of grace and remember how God has sustained you before. 00:12:08.289 --> 00:12:12.289 Do not demand grace for every future possibility at once. 00:12:12.609 --> 00:12:17.809 Ask for grace for today and strength for the next faithful step. 00:12:19.809 --> 00:12:22.129 Consider these questions. 00:12:23.089 --> 00:12:25.009 What am I waiting for? 00:12:25.729 --> 00:12:29.809 What part of this situation must I place into God's hands? 00:12:30.769 --> 00:12:33.409 Is there a step that belongs to me now? 00:12:33.969 --> 00:12:36.369 Where have I already seen grace? 00:12:37.409 --> 00:12:40.449 And who can help me carry this season? 00:12:43.089 --> 00:12:47.089 All of us spend seasons in the waiting rooms of the soul. 00:12:47.489 --> 00:12:55.089 We cannot force the door to open or command morning to arrive, but we can remain faithful in the darkness. 00:12:56.609 --> 00:12:59.089 God may change our circumstances. 00:12:59.649 --> 00:13:02.689 He may change us within the circumstances. 00:13:03.649 --> 00:13:08.129 He may give strength for one more day before revealing the next step. 00:13:08.689 --> 00:13:13.649 Waiting is not wasted when it is placed in God's hands. 00:13:14.609 --> 00:13:18.929 The watchman waits for morning because darkness will not have the final word. 00:13:19.729 --> 00:13:25.809 Christians wait with hope because Jesus Christ has overcome sin and death. 00:13:26.209 --> 00:13:35.889 We may not know when the waiting will end or what the answer will be, but we know who remains with us while we wait. 00:13:37.409 --> 00:13:38.849 Let us pray. 00:13:39.729 --> 00:13:47.809 Lord, be near to all those who are waiting for healing, guidance, reconciliation, or important news. 00:13:48.369 --> 00:13:52.529 Give strength to those whose waiting has become exhausting. 00:13:53.649 --> 00:14:00.049 Help us recognize the faithful steps that belong to us and entrust the outcome to you. 00:14:01.969 --> 00:14:07.649 Protect us from shame, despair, and careless explanations. 00:14:08.369 --> 00:14:12.369 Help your church remain beside those who wait. 00:14:12.929 --> 00:14:20.769 Give us courage for today, hope for tomorrow, and sufficient grace for the next faithful step. 00:14:21.169 --> 00:14:24.689 Remain close to us in every waiting room of the soul. 00:14:25.250 --> 00:14:28.129 Through Jesus Christ our Lord we pray. 00:14:28.449 --> 00:14:29.089 Amen. 00:14:30.769 --> 00:14:39.489 Now before we close, I want to let you know about my books, The Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer, are both available on Amazon. 00:14:39.969 --> 00:14:46.289 Each book takes familiar words of our Christian faith and considers what they mean for our lives today. 00:14:46.769 --> 00:14:54.049 My hope is that they will help you grow in your understanding of God and deepen your relationship with Jesus Christ. 00:14:54.289 --> 00:15:00.609 You can find both books on Amazon by searching for my name, Hoyt S. 00:15:00.849 --> 00:15:02.769 Barrett, Jr. 00:15:04.689 --> 00:15:06.769 Thank you for joining me today. 00:15:07.009 --> 00:15:19.729 If you do not have a church home, we would love to have you worship with us at Spray United Methodist Church, located at 803 Morgan Road in Eden, North Carolina. 00:15:20.049 --> 00:15:24.609 We are a loving church where we love God and love people. 00:15:25.489 --> 00:15:26.449 All people. 00:15:27.250 --> 00:15:32.449 Until next time, may the grace of God rise before you and keep you safe. 00:15:33.569 --> 00:15:34.849 Goodbye.