It’s 3:47 p.m. on a Monday afternoon and I am sitting here in the waiting room of the critical cardiac unit at the hospital. A family friend, that is more family than a friend, had to have immediate surgery. Friday he went to the doctor to check on a few complications he had been experiencing. He never expected to hear that he needed to go straight to the hospital to have a quadruple bypass. You could imagine the shock and astonishment he and his family endured during this time. He could have literally had a heart attack at any moment.
Fast forward through the most intense weekend and we find ourselves here, in the waiting room on a Monday. Family and friends gathered in the waiting room with a few other families that were waiting on one of their loved ones as well. You hear of surgeries all the time, but until you are there in the waiting room contemplating all the things that could go wrong, you just don’t understand the fear of the unknown.
As I am sitting here today, the doctor just walked in and called his wife and family out of the room. I have never had so many conflicted thoughts run through my mind. “He’s OK. He’s not OK. He’s OK. He’s not OK.” After a minute or two, they come back in the room and announced that surgery went well. I watched with the utmost amazement as his wife immediately asked a friend to lead us in prayer to thank Jesus for this sweet blessing. We all gathered around in a circle and held hands.
A wave of emotions filled the waiting room and you could feel the burden being lifted. The atmosphere was thick with relief and gratitude. You could feel God’s peace rush in and surround our tiny circle. Tears began to flow as we held on to the tangible promises of God.
That’s what I love most about prayers: The moment that you can physically, spiritually, and emotionally experience the sovereign hand of God.
So many people feel like God isn’t listening to them, but maybe they aren’t listing to God. God is telling a lot of people to “wait.” I watched as his wife placed the fullest amount of faith and trust in the hands of Jesus. The unknown was immense, just as I can imagine is the same for something you are going through right now.
Your unknown is immense.
If you learn to do anything in life, learn to not just wait, but wait well. Learn to wait with grace and strength. There have been many times that I have been in the waiting room of life and I honestly believe that you are always waiting for something in life. Some things may seem more urgent, but you are always waiting. You need to learn to wait well.
The thing about being in a waiting room is that it is all you can do: wait. You have no choice but to leave it to the doctors and nurses. If we would have rushed back to the surgical center and tried to do everything ourselves then we would have gotten it all wrong. I believe even if we would have just stood in the surgery room, then we would have still been in the way.
Yes, there was worry and fear in the waiting room with us, but we trumped the worry with laughter and the fear with positivity.
My friend, I see your frustration. Waiting is not easy. If we are being honest, waiting is intimidating, unsure, and uncomfortable. Some of you are waiting and longing for one thing, while others feel completely stuck in the middle of waiting in multiple areas of their life. Waiting on an answer, waiting on a degree, waiting on change, waiting on friendships, waiting on healing, waiting on a relationship, waiting on a prodigal etc. The list goes on.
The fact of the matter is I believe everyone is waiting for something. So what do you do when you are in this season of life? I have learned to put my trust in something greater than me and my fears, but I didn't just wake up knowing this.
I had to go through seasons in my life that revealed God’s character to me. You can read about who God is, hear people speak of who God is, but until you have to walk through trialing times in your life you will never experience that intimate relationship with God that is rewarded through difficult seasons. So, during this season of waiting, be expectant to experience God’s faithfulness like never before.
Expect God to do more, more than He has ever done for you before, but know that it may require you to wait in the midst of the treacherous unknowns. This moment in my life of being in a literal waiting room has taught me that in order to wait well you need friends, laughter, and fervent prayers. How are you handling your waiting?
