"Wait!"
"Have a seat, I’ll be with you in a minute."
"It's going to be a 45 minute wait to be seen."
We have all heard these phrases. Even as I write this, I’m reminded of the cold, hard reality that if I’m left too long in
the waiting room...it doesn't bring out my best qualities.
Waiting has never been my strength and while we’re at it...neither is sharing space or taking turns.
A few months ago, I found out that our family is getting new health insurance. I was not excited about this. It’s not that I’m overly loyalty to any insurance brand, but my family doctor for the past eight years, has won me over with her promptness in seeing patients within minutes of their appointment time and sometimes even before the scheduled appointment. I will go so far as to say that she has a “zero” wait time in her office.
Now, I'm sure you think I’m exaggerating…and I may be just a bit, but there has been many times in my years with this doctor that I’ve walked from the check-in counter, choose my seat in the waiting room, place my coat on the chair, and walked over to an end table to pick reading material.
Literally, with the magazine in my hand, the nurse would call my name before I could even sit down.
Let’s face it, nobody likes
the waiting room. I loved the “no-wait” policy at my doctors office, and I can't help but believe if all of
life’s waiting rooms could run with such excellent percision, then life would be grand.
In
the waiting room of life, we don’t have a choice in the amount of time we spent there, but we all have a choice in
how we wait. I know this all to well. I have not been good at the waiting game, and I freely admit that I’m still a work in progress.
I don’t like
the waiting room.
Now, here’s the zinger, sometimes God’s wants us to linger in
His waiting room. I’m sorry to say, He did not consult with me on this, or I would have shared my excellent time management skills.
I’m guessing God's plan and purpose for my life my exceed the
herd'm through mentality. For each second, minute, hour, day or year that I squirm in His waiting room chair--He is fully aware and allowing it.
Here’s a truth I learned in
God's waiting room. When God puts you there, you’re not getting out any faster with a bad attitude.
...The Apostle Paul was in God's waiting room--also known as a jail cell. In this prison, he waited and used his time to worship. When Paul's chains dropped to the prison floor, he walked out, and lead his guards to Christ.
...Joseph knew all about God's waiting room. He spent more than 30 years there if you count the time from the day he dreamed his dream to the day his brothers bowed down before him and Joseph saw the fulfillment of the dream God had given him. That's a lot of waiting!
...Queen Esther also was familiar with waiting. She waited in the wings for one year before being chosen queen. She waited again for God's timing to be fulfilled so she would be where she needed to be to save the Jewish people from annihilation. These famous words of her uncle, "you are here for such a time as this," give meaning to
the waiting room.
I'm not sure where you are in the waiting process, but if you are sitting in God's waiting room--that's great news. We have this hope found in Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles;
they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint.
Maybe
the waiting room isn't as bad as I thought. I just need to remember to use my time wisely while there.