When Waiting is Hard

A couple of weeks ago I had to take my brave five year old to the children's hospital to take a look at his intestines. He has been having constipation issues since he was born and they wanted to make sure that it wasn't a problem that needed surgical attention. He was a very brave patient and it turns out he is fine. He even got a cool robot for being such a good patient.

The morning we arrived at the office, there was a mix-up. My pediatrician had told me they wanted to do the procedure that Monday, but the hospital couldn't fit him in until the following Monday. Luckily, they were very understanding and worked him in. We just had to wait for an hour or two before there was an opening in the busy schedule. While we waited and JS played, I wrote this...

Waiting. I hate waiting. Waiting on the phone, waiting in line, or any other type of waiting you can think of. Yet here I am in the Pediatric Surgery office waiting for someone to come and tell me they have an open time slot for my son to have a necessary procedure done. You see, there was a mix-up in the scheduling and so here we are, waiting for them to fit us in.

The thing about waiting is this; I can handle waiting if I know how long it will be. For example, we were supposed to check in at 7:30am and the procedure was supposed to happen at 8:00am. I know that I was going to be waiting about a 1/2 hour. I can to that. Now though, they have told me it's going to be at least an hour, and that was an hour ago! Open ended waiting is not my idea of fun.

Sometimes it's like that when we're waiting on God, isn't it? We've taken the time to pray and put things in His hands. It's now out of our control. We can trust that He will take care of things in His own timing. The answer is forthcoming and all we have to do now is wait.

Easier said than done. As I sit here and watch my son grow antsy, I am reminded of what I sometimes do when I am waiting for an answer from God. I pace, I worry, I get bored with waiting. I do anything but sit still and know that it's under control.

God has my answer, just like JS will have his appointment. The difference is that God doesn't need to "fit me in". He is almighty, and He is there for me always, by my side, while I wait. I'm working on it. Meanwhile, I am thankful that God is patient with me while I fidget and squirm.

Psalm 46:10 Be still and know that I am God