Waiting

Despite our busy agendas and hurried lifestyles we spend a lot of time waiting. While we are waiting we are usually not resting or enjoying our delay.  Waiting in traffic, doctors offices, grocery lines or for trains etc. can be annoying but are just a normal part of life that the vast majority of us do rather patiently.  There is a happy anticipation in waiting for a baby’s’ arrival, the bride to walk the aisle, a long-awaited vacation or for Santa to come on Christmas. But anxiety or apprehension can proceed waiting for a doctor’s diagnoses, a reply on a job interview or a grade for a test.

The definition for wait is : 1. stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or until something happens.  2. used to indicate that one is eagerly impatient to do something or for something to happen.

In daily situations I am really pretty good at waiting. Traffic will eventually move along so I just put my Ipod on. I can make conversation or smile at babies in the shopping line and at the DMV I people watch and read a book.  C’est la vie…  (such is life)

I have been an operating room nurse for over 32 years and in surgery our job is to fix things! If you have a broken leg – the doctor will pin or plate it and put on a cast until it heals. If you have a bad gallbladder – the doctor will remove it. Of course rehab and healing take time and aren’t always smooth or easy but we have done our job.

I live with several health issues and over the years I have visited a lot of different doctors offices. I am used to the delays, the tests, the consults….but not waiting for the answers.  I am not always so patient when I am waiting for God to answer my prayer or show me what is next. I like to know what to do and to move forward.

When God puts me in His waiting room I cannot fix anything. I must quiet my soul, search His word and seek His presence. It is there I have learned that God is loving and faithful. God is Sovereign. He is in control of everything and knows what is best. I must simply trust. I am glad much is written in the Bible about trusting God despite the circumstances. The history and stories we are given are examples of real people with real problems and how God worked in their lives. That is where I find encouragement. 

28 Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding.29 He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.30 Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.   Isaiah 40:28-31 (NLT)

In the English standard translation and several others, the word wait is used instead of trust.

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.                 Phil 4:6-7 (NLT)

The Apostle Paul tells us to pray, to release our need to know the answer now and relax. Our God is a big and awesome God. By trusting in Him to do the best thing – not the easiest or quickest – I receive peace of heart and strength for the day.  You can learn how to trust God while waiting too. The benefits are guaranteed.