Waiting...

Waiting is my chosen word for the week.  I shared with a colleague/therapist my topic for the week and her scowled look with a guttural augh was priceless.   Waiting doesn’t seem to be a positive word however, I have learned while waiting there are many positives that are developed from the act of waiting.  So my question for you is what are you waiting for?  How patient are you in waiting?
  
Many of us have had to wait for a plethora of things in life such as that first kiss, a graduation date, the passing of a life changing exam, a wedding date, the birth of a baby, a promotion, surgery, a treatment date, and the list goes on. 

This week I’ve been waiting for insurance approval and a treatment team meeting.  The insurance approval came through on Friday so now I’m continuing to wait to hear from the treatment team in order to start radiation treatments.  I’m also waiting for my sweet Mother to recover from pneumonia and a staph infection. She’s going on her 3^rd week of in home IV’s and we’re still waiting for her recovery.

Waiting lessons I’ve learned: Resist the urge to run or fight. Actually, I consider freeze to be a more waiting mode. Romans 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.  Waiting seems hard enough to do within itself but James 1:4 tells us to “Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”  I’ve learned my attitude while I’m waiting may have some baring to how long I wait.  Ultimately God’s time table and mine seem miles apart.  After all, we live in an instant society in which we have to have what we want now however, God’s timing is not hinged on our societal norms.  I’ve learned God’s timing is perfect.  From my perspective God sees the big picture, He as a bird’s eye view on the situation, and He knows the moment this change needs to occur.  I have learned God, the creator of the universe, and my being designer designed me and you for relationship with Him which makes waiting easier.  I Love that about Him!  He invites me/you to spend time with Him and he delights in our time together.  I like that I/we have an open invitation I don’t have to have a set appointment nor do I have to have my people get with His people to set an appointment…which is a good thing since I don’t have any people.   I had an 11 year-old Client who made that clear to me when we were determining our next appointment. I lightheartedly said to her I’ll have my people get with your people.  My Client promptly responded, “The last time we tried this my people told me you don’t have any people.” She caused me to laugh and she was right as it was her Mother and I together set her appointments.  So I’ve learned to be thankful that I am welcomed to come into God’s presence with an open invitation and, in this case, He doesn’t make me or you wait.  I’ve learned I can and choose to trust Him in the waiting.  What are you choosing to do while you’re waiting?  Are you running, fighting, throwing a tantrum or patiently waiting and trusting God with an appropriate attitude?  I am praying for you in your waiting…

Encouraging Scriptural words:

25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:25-28 NIV

7A Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him Psalm 37:7A NIV 

31 But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.  Isaiah 40.31 NIV