Life in the Waiting Room

Sunday Rewind is a 5-day Devotional based on the weekly sermon at Resonate Community Church

January 25th Sermon, Day 1

Have you ever felt like you're stuck in a waiting room, just enduring until your name gets called? Maybe it's a job you don't love, a neighborhood that doesn't feel like home, or circumstances that seem far from ideal. The Jewish exiles in Babylon knew this feeling intimately.

Torn from everything familiar, they found themselves in a foreign land with different values and customs. But God had a surprising message for them through Jeremiah: don't just wait it out. Build houses, plant gardens, get married, have children. In other words, live fully even when life isn't perfect. Your faith isn't on hold just because your situation is hard.

Many of us have adopted a 'waiting room mentality' toward our communities and circumstances. We quietly endure, counting down the days until we can move somewhere better, find a different job, or escape to more comfortable surroundings. But what if God is calling us to something different? What if He's inviting us to see our current situation not as a temporary inconvenience, but as the very place where He wants to use us?

Life is happening right now, and you have a role to play. Your current circumstances, however imperfect, are not a mistake or a detour from God's plan. They are the canvas on which He wants to paint His purposes through you. Today, consider how you might move from passive waiting to active living, right where you are.

Bible Verse

'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.' - Jeremiah 29:11

Reflection Question

In what areas of your life have you been operating with a 'waiting room mentality,' and how might God be calling you to engage more fully in your current circumstances?

Quote

Some of us, we treat our community like we're quietly sitting in a waiting room, waiting for our name to be called.

Prayer

Lord, help me to see my current situation through Your eyes. Give me the courage to stop waiting for perfect circumstances and start living fully where You have placed me. Show me how to be faithful in this season, trusting that You have good plans for me even here. Amen.