ABOUT DR. KAREN RIGGINS
I am a righteous single career woman. I am the Proverbs 31 living legend. With a heart of prayer, 2 doctoral degrees, and a passion for Christ, I have had to trust God for everything. This has not been an easy or a picture-perfect process. My focus on God locked me into to waiting for the promises of God to be hand delivered. Thankfully, God has covered me even when I desired to reach for something that was outside of His will or His timing. Even when I reached points of frustration because I did not understand the plans of God for my life, I have learn to trust God in every area of my life. Sometimes, it felt like God had placed me on the back burner to slowly char and ruin without intervention. But, in my waiting, I had to learn that this was not the character of our God. He is loving, kind, intentional, and attentive. He cannot deny Himself and He will not deny His offspring. Knowing this is key when you’ve been assigned to the ‘waiting game’.
People talk about the ‘waiting game’ as if were just a familiar board game that life pulls out of the closet and forces you to play. Well, I’ve ‘played’ the ‘game’ most of my life…and for most of the wait, I never enjoyed the game. No one told me the truth about waiting on God. Every church mother could only look at my faithfulness and just say, “Wait on God, Baby.” They instructed me to wait as if that was not what I was already doing. Their instruction was not enough. Every prophet has announced that what I have waited for is coming. I never doubted the delivery of the promise of career, marriage, and kids; the timing has been the issue. The prophecies became insufficient and not enough to sustain me. It wasn’t until I pleaded with God for the 100th time, that He gave me an answer to sustain me. I had reached a point where He was ready to reveal a part of His plan’s intention. He explained my wait and since that time, I have never been the same.
God reminded me of my time in high school. I played varsity basketball and this was both a great joy and a tremendous sacrifice. Part of the requirement to play in the upcoming season was that you had to run cross country in the summer. I never fully understood the insanity of my coach. I hated running and more than running, I hated the idea of running cross country. Cross country running did not happen on a manicured, graveled, level track. Running cross country meant you had to run 3 miles on a poorly demarcated trial without water or a break in the course. It was a long and uncomfortable race and I never finished first. I hated cross country but I participated because I longed to play the game of basketball.
Waiting is like cross country running; what you are waiting for is like the game of basketball. The run is part of your training and God, Himself, is building your endurance. Your stamina is required because God is about to put you in the game of your life. God already sees the pace of the game and He knows that if you are to make Him look good on the court, there are some things that you need to build up in the off season. This is waiting; next comes the game. Take joy to enjoy your waiting game.
My ministry is assigned to weary wait-ers. God has not forgotten you; you will see the goodness of our Lord in the land of the living. Right now, you are winning because you have just found the tribe that will build and encourage you. We are your tribe; you are welcome here.