When the dark days come into your world, what do you see? Do you focus on the darkness or the stars? Focusing on the darkness only brings hopelessness. Focusing on the stars brings hopefulness. God often uses the darkness to reveal Himself in a more powerful way. "And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." John 1:5

The Christians joy is in knowing that God's light is not only greater than their personal darkness but will also overpower and outlast all their darkness.

Mary and Martha exemplify this well. Lazarus, their brother fell sick, so knowing that Jesus loved him, so they sent for Him. They knew He had the power to heal him. Yet Jesus, knowing well the situation chose not to come to their immediate aid. Lazarus died and Mary and Martha's dark days began.

Why? Why wouldn't Jesus come and heal him? Why? Why did Jesus tarry at their urgent request? Why? Why did Jesus allow this to happen?

Questions abounded as Mary and Martha enter God's waiting room. They knew the love of Jesus. They had experienced the love of Jesus, so why isn't Jesus performing up to their expectations? Why isn't Jesus following their script?

What about us? When our dark days come, when we enter into, "God's waiting room," do we focus on our darkness or on Jesus light in our darkness? If your heart has been shadowed by the darkness of loneliness, betrayal, grief, disappointment, divorce, sickness, finances, hurt, rejection or whatever, look for the light that only He can give. "I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." John 8:12

Jesus allowed this darkness to fall upon Mary and Martha, "that they may believe." He wanted to increase their faith and their trust. He wanted to teach them to rest in the midst of their unrest. Jesus had a motive in waiting which Mary and Martha could not see nor understand in their dark days.

Jesus has a motive for allowing "our" dark days as well. God's waiting room has a purpose. The truth of the matter is that God is waiting for us. Waiting for us to become totally dependent upon Him. He often uses the silence, the darkness to cause us to look up and to find Him and rest in Him in a way that previous was foreign to us.

When we enter into a crisis our petitions are often that God will remove the crisis. We repeatedly petition God. We ask almost everyone we come in contact with to petition God. Please God remove this crisis!  But it is usually NOT the crisis He changes. IT IS US being changed In the Crises! He wants to make us STABLE in Him, "the same yesterday, today and forever." Firm in faith, unmovable in trial, regardless of the circumstances involved. Herein lies the growing Christians greatest challenge. Trusting God in the darkness. Resting in God in our waiting room.

Micah summed it up well, "Therefore I will LOOK to the Lord, I will WAIT for the God of my salvation; My God will HEAR me." Micah 7:7

Abraham in, "God's waiting room," LOOKED for almost 25 years for the promised child.

David in, "God's waiting room," WAITED for over 16 years after he was anointed King and he was hunted like a dog and lived in caves dodging King Saul's wrath.

Joseph's petitions in, "God's waiting room," were finally HEARD after 13 years as a slave and a jailer in a heathen land.

Why? Why all this WAITING? Why all this DARKNESS?

When life goes smoothly, when we have lots of sunshine along with a hammock and lemonade we tend to get complacent and cocky. We feel in control, on top of life, like a master of our own destiny. But when tragedy strikes, especially tragedy upon tragedy, then suddenly we realize we need Someone bigger, wiser and stronger than ourselves ... we need God!

These needs call us to a COMPLETE DEPENDENCE upon God. It is in this dire need, these dark days, in our waiting room that we FIND God. God is often found in a deeper way in suffering then He is found in sunshine.

All this time we think we are waiting on God, but the truth of the matter is that God is waiting on us! Waiting for us to be re-signed to His will, submit and trust to His timing and His way of accomplishment.

Yes God seems slow! But it is really we that are sooo slow ... not God. This business of waiting is one tough assignment! It is a necessary part of our Christian training. It is not an elective course but a required course and comes to all of us in many varied ways and at different times.

To this date I remain in God's waiting room. Perhaps I'm a slow learner, perhaps I was too active in Christian service, perhaps I was too resistant to some of God's leadings in my life, but this I know; He allowed this painful trial to develop in me a complete dependence and trust in Him. Not merely in my theology, not only in my lifestyle, not simply in my church but in Him. That is where He is ultimately trying to bring us.

So if you find yourself in, "dark days," if you find yourself in, "God's waiting room," if you find yourself in, "affliction," then in your distress learn to bow to the absolute Sovereignty of God and surrender to Him the right to do what He chooses to do, when ever He chooses to do it, in any way He chooses to do it, for any purpose He wants to accomplish, to use any person He chooses and for as long as He chooses.

God makes no mistakes,

Jim & Sally

Empowered Living Ministry                

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