Love Day #21: The Waiting Room

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” — Psalm 27:14 (NIV)

THE JOURNEY

A few winters ago, I was traveling cross-country with my eight-year-old niece, Emma. We were stranded in the Chicago airport during a massive blizzard. Our flight was delayed for two hours, then four, then indefinitely.

Emma was miserable. For the first two hours, she paced the terminal. She stared at the departure board like she could force the letters to change by sheer willpower. Every ten minutes she asked, “Are they fixing the plane yet? Why is it taking so long? Have they forgotten us?”

She was exhausting herself with anxiety over something she had absolutely zero control over.

Finally, I went to a terminal gift shop and bought a giant, intricate coloring book and a fresh pack of markers. I went back to our gate, sat on the floor, and patted the carpet next to me.

“Emma, come here,” I said.

She stomped over. “I don’t want to color. I want to go home!”

“I know,” I said gently. “But we can’t make the blizzard stop. We can’t fix the plane. We can either spend the next four hours pacing and being miserable, or we can sit here together and make something beautiful while we wait.”

She sighed, dropped her backpack, and sat cross-legged next to me. She leaned her head against my shoulder, uncapped a blue marker, and started coloring.

We sat there for three hours. We didn’t talk about the plane. We talked about her favorite movies, her friends at school, and the ridiculous jokes she knew. We laughed until our sides hurt. The delay didn’t change—we were still stuck in Chicago. But the experience of the delay changed completely.

When they finally called our boarding group, Emma actually looked a little disappointed to put the markers away.

I realized later that this is exactly how we treat God when our lives are put on hold. We pace. We stare at the “departure board.” We exhaust ourselves asking why He hasn’t fixed the problem yet. But God is sitting on the floor, patting the carpet next to Him, inviting us to stop pacing and just sit with Him.

Heart of the Matter

Waiting is one of the most painful spiritual disciplines. Whether you are waiting for a spouse, a healing, a job offer, or a breakthrough, the “waiting room” of life often feels like God’s rejection.

But Psalm 27 commands us to wait for the Lord. Notice it doesn’t say “wait for the answer” or “wait for the fix.” It says wait for Him.

Here is the dynamic: You love God by putting down your anxiety and sitting next to Him. You stop demanding that He operate on your timeline. You love Him by trusting that if the flight is delayed, the Pilot must have a good reason—perhaps keeping you out of a storm you cannot see. He loves you back by transforming the waiting room. He doesn’t always speed up the clock, but He gives you His presence. He sits with you on the floor. He renews your strength (Isaiah 40:31) so that the delay doesn’t destroy you. He loves you by making sure that the time spent waiting isn’t wasted time—it becomes relationship-building time.

Faith in Action

What is the biggest thing you are waiting for right now?

The Challenge: Today, when you feel the urge to “pace the terminal” in your mind—stressing over the timeline, trying to force an outcome, or checking for updates—stop physically moving for a moment. Take a deep breath and say: “Lord, I cannot make the plane fly. I choose to stop pacing. I am going to sit with You in this waiting room and trust Your clock.” Then, intentionally shift your focus to something you can enjoy or be grateful for right in this exact moment.

Prayer for the Day

Lord of Time, I confess that I hate waiting. I want things fixed, and I want them fixed right now. Forgive me for pacing the floor and doubting Your goodness just because You are moving slower than I want. Today, I choose to love You by trusting Your timing. I drop my anxiety. I sit down beside You. Help me to take heart and find joy in Your company while I wait for the doors to open. Amen.

LOVE Note

“Our willingness to wait reveals the value we place on the object we’re waiting for.” — Charles Stanley