The Waiting Room
Exodus 29:42b (New International Version)
42...There I will meet you and speak to you;
Proverbs 8:34 (New International Version)
34 Blessed is the man who listens to me,
watching daily at my doors,
waiting at my doorway.
Psalm 123:2 (New International Version)
2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he shows us his mercy
Luke 15:20 (New International Version)
20So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
The room that we've been working on is finished and the mirror, clock and pictures are hung.
"What are you going to use it for?" several people have asked, curiously. We have several rooms on the ground floor, and more space than most houses.
"It's a quiet room; a reading room; a room just to be peaceful in." I tried to explain. But this morning as I sat and soaked in the quietness, I thought, "This is a waiting room;" the room in which I sit still and wait for God.
I gave thanks for it this morning, and blessed it, inviting the presence of God to fill it. If a room can be commissioned, I guess this one has been.
This morning, in the Daily Office (p. 119-120,) I read a beautiful quote by Henri Nouwen, that echoed my thoughts:
I have to kneel before the Father, put my ear against his chest and listen, without interruption, to the heartbeat of God. Then, and only then, can I say carefully and very gently what I hear. I know now that I have to speak from eternity into time, from the lasting joy into the passing realities of our short existence in this world, from the house of love into the houses of fear, from God's abode, into the dwellings of human beings.
I am do far too little waiting for God and listening, but I hope that in this small, quiet and beautiful room, I will hear from him often.
42...There I will meet you and speak to you;
Proverbs 8:34 (New International Version)
34 Blessed is the man who listens to me,
watching daily at my doors,
waiting at my doorway.
Psalm 123:2 (New International Version)
2 As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
till he shows us his mercy
Luke 15:20 (New International Version)
20So he got up and went to his father.
"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
The room that we've been working on is finished and the mirror, clock and pictures are hung.
"What are you going to use it for?" several people have asked, curiously. We have several rooms on the ground floor, and more space than most houses.
"It's a quiet room; a reading room; a room just to be peaceful in." I tried to explain. But this morning as I sat and soaked in the quietness, I thought, "This is a waiting room;" the room in which I sit still and wait for God.
I gave thanks for it this morning, and blessed it, inviting the presence of God to fill it. If a room can be commissioned, I guess this one has been.
This morning, in the Daily Office (p. 119-120,) I read a beautiful quote by Henri Nouwen, that echoed my thoughts:
I have to kneel before the Father, put my ear against his chest and listen, without interruption, to the heartbeat of God. Then, and only then, can I say carefully and very gently what I hear. I know now that I have to speak from eternity into time, from the lasting joy into the passing realities of our short existence in this world, from the house of love into the houses of fear, from God's abode, into the dwellings of human beings.
I am do far too little waiting for God and listening, but I hope that in this small, quiet and beautiful room, I will hear from him often.
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