The Waiting Room

 

“The

Waiting Room”

            Congratulations! You are having a baby—but not until you are 100 years old.  Well, that’s how old Abraham was when Sarah had Isaac.  Way to go!  You got that promotion that you weren’t even looking for—but you won’t receive it for over a decade.  David found out when he was a young shepherd that he would be king of Israel.  He wasn’t able to assume the throne until he was 30 years old.  You are moving to a beautiful new neighborhood—but you will have to travel 40 years to get there.  Moses led the Israelites through the desert for what probably seemed like an eternity!  Yes, you may marry my daughter, but you must wait 14 years before you can live together!  Or at least that’s how long Jacob worked for his beloved Rachel.  Talk about being in the waiting room of life!

            Just a few weekends ago, I took my child to an urgent care clinic for a double ear infection.  It was a Sunday, and we needed to get him medicine quickly.  We waited an hour and forty minutes and finally left after the long wait and unsanitary conditions.  We grabbed lunch at home then went to a different place where we waited for a much more acceptable total of 40 minutes.  Waiting can be so frustrating when you have a small child with a small attention span.  That day left me feeling exhausted, but we finally got him the medicine he needed to start his healing. 

            I started thinking about a song I had heard almost 20 years ago by Shane Bernard about sitting in the waiting room.  I was thinking to myself “Have I been in the waiting room of life?”  I was married at the age of 34, and I had my child at the age of 37.  I felt like I had been in the waiting room of life many times—waiting on a job, marriage, a child, or a change.  Sometimes I waited patiently, or perhaps distractedly, and at other times I waited with an exasperated attitude.  Life has been so busy lately for me with a full-time, high-energy job, a very energetic small boy, a stressful global pandemic, and an active Bible study group.

 I have been in my same profession for about 17 years, and without a break for the pandemic and a lot of new safety procedures, I was fully burned out.  I tried a handful of side hustles in hopes of reducing my work hours or to start a different career path, but they all amounted to zero success.  I have been unable to get pregnant with a second child, and my energy level has seemed to plummet from its already low level.  Suddenly, it occurred to me, “I’m in the waiting room of life again!”

The waiting room—why is it such an uncomfortable wait?  We want to know, and we want to know now!  That’s why people sneak a peek at the last chapter of that mystery novel or rewrap their Christmas presents because they just have to know what’s inside.  Now I’ve had surgery, and I have one week of recovery at home.  I feel pressure that I must have answers, and I must have it all figured out in one week.  This is just not true, and it’s not going to happen.  I’m having to constantly cast those thoughts on God, and I ask him for help and guidance.  I do not know what to do, but I’m fixing my eyes on you, Lord. 

What does the Bible say about waiting?  Romans 8:25 says, “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”  I am hoping for answers, change, and direction—oh, and patience.  “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” (Psalm 37:7)  I’m trying to be still before the Lord, but with the busyness of life, I’m rarely able to be still and quiet until I’m falling asleep.  Isaiah 40:31 says ‘But those who hope in the lord will renew their strength.”  This verse brings me great comfort as waiting can deplete strength.  “The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.” (Lamentations 3:25)  He is good, and he gives good gifts in and out of seasons of waiting.