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:
- One woman wondered if God loved her or had forgotten about her. (Hannah)
- One woman’s life took a tragic and unexpected turn. (Ruth)
- One woman suffered for over a decade with an embarrassing medical condition. (the unnamed bleeding woman)
- 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).
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