Sitting in the Waiting Room of Life is Never Easy

 

Sitting in the Waiting Room of Life is Never Easy

Barb Roose leads readers to find the blessings in waiting on God

Need information quick? Just grab your phone and do a search. Didn’t plan ahead for dinner? Toss something in the Instapot. Forget about patience, we live a world where Prime shipping seems to take too long. Waiting on the little things is an inconvenience, so what happens when we have to wait on the big things? When the bills are stacking up because a new job hasn’t come along, a family situation is causing great heartache, or a loved one faces an illness, we pray for answers. We know God hears our prayers, but it’s hard when the clock is ticking yet He hasn’t shown us the answer. Sometimes he wants us to wait. In her new Bible study I’m Waiting, God: Finding Blessing in God’s Delays, Barb Roose helps readers build patience until God’s plan comes to fruition.

In this four-week Bible study, Barb Roose invites us to explore the stories of four women in the Bible who had to wait on God. Each grappled with unanswered prayers:

1. One woman wondered if God loved her or had forgotten about her. (Hannah)
2. One woman’s life took a tragic and unexpected turn. (Ruth)
3. One woman suffered for over a decade with an embarrassing medical condition. (the unnamed bleeding woman)
4. One woman prayed, but God said “no” to her prayer. (Martha)

For anyone who has ever felt anxious, angry, discouraged or depressed because God isn’t giving her what she wants, these stories will breathe fresh hope and practical next steps in life.

As a reforming control lover, Roose mixes in her personal stories of learning how to wait for God during long seasons of unanswered prayers, family difficulties, and challenging times in ministry. She knows from experience that taking matters into your own hands when you’ve run out of patience can make the situation worse. Together participants will discover there is goodness and blessing to be found in times of waiting, including a closer relationship with God than they would have ever dared to dream.

“Years ago, a crisis emerged in our home. At first, I tried to fix it. I failed. Then I prayed for God to make it go away. That went unanswered. So I prayed harder. The situation grew worse. Was God angry with me? Why wasn’t He answering my prayer? I wrestled with God, begging Him to end our struggle and heal my suffering,” Roose writes. “In the midst of that unanswered prayer, I discovered God’s better blessing for my life. When I stopped panicking and started focusing on being in His presence, God filled the parts of my heart broken by pain and suffering with what I needed most, which was more of Him. Experiencing the presence of God is greater than the good things that I prayed for, and that has been the best blessing of my life.”

I’m Waiting, God can be used as an individual or group study. Recognizing time limitations may be a challenge for participants, the study has been designed with a flexible format. The shorter four-week study is ideal for in-between or busy times for groups. Each week offers three days of Bible study homework, plus two optional days for more personal reflection to be enjoyed as time or energy permits. The participant workbook includes group session guides, discussion questions, prayers, video viewer guides, and leader helps at the back of the book. There is also a DVD, available separately, for group use with 20-minute teaching sessions.

For additional encouragement, readers can sign up for “The Patience Path,” a 30-day email devotional Roose created to go along with the study. To sign up, go to barbroose.com/patiencepath.

I’m Waiting, God: Finding Blessing in God’s Delays

Women’s Bible Study Guide with Leader Helps

By Barb Roose

Paperback ISBN: 9781501888625 / $14.99

eBook ISBN: 9781501888632 / $14.99

DVD ISBN: 9781501888649 / $44.99

Available September 17, 2019 from Abingdon Press

About the author

Barb Roose is a popular speaker and author who is passionate about connecting women to one another and to God helping them apply the truths of God’s Word to the practical realities and challenges they face as women in today’s culture.

Roose enjoys teaching and encouraging women at conferences and events across the country, as well as internationally, including national platforms such as the Aspire Women’s Events, She Speaks Conference, and the UMC Leadership Institute.

She is the author of the I’m Waiting, God: Finding Blessing in God’s Delays, Joshua: Winning the Worry Battle and Beautiful Already: Reclaiming God’s Perspective on Beauty Bible studies and the books Winning the Worry Battle: Life Lessons from the Book of Joshua and Enough Already: Winning Your Ugly Struggle with Beauty. Her writing has been featured in many magazines, and she also writes a regular blog at BarbRoose.com. She is the host of the bi-monthly “Better Together” podcast.

Roose lives in Toledo, Ohio, and is the proud mom of three adult daughters. Her perfect day includes sleeping in, taking a long walk outside, shopping for shoes and eating two big bowls of chocolate peanut ice cream.

Visit Barb Roose’s online home at barbroose.com. Readers can also keep up with her on Facebook (BarbaraRoose), Twitter (barbroose), and Instagram (barbroose).