The Waiting Rooms of Life
Waiting – it can almost slow time down. I imagine waiting during the birth of a child or outside an operating theater would be one of the most challenging situations where time does seemingly stand still. Waiting is hard, or at least for me it is a challenge. I am generally an action person who likes to get on with the job and sort things out. I don’t sit well with unfinished things or problems that I can see solutions to. Over my life I have had to learn to be more patient, to sit with mess, to allow myself to be uncomfortable with problems and imperfect outcomes. It hasn’t been easy. Other people tend to procrastinate a bit more, to put things off or not attempt something for fear of making a mistake. We are all wired differently.
With the current Covid-19 crisis, we are now in somewhat of an uncomfortable waiting game. The initial flurry of activity, disruption and adjustment has settled down. We have flattened the curve, especially in SA, and the news feed has entered that phase it always does in long term crisis where it just starts to become repetitive. There isn’t much more to say, except wait. In some ways this long term waiting can be harder than dealing with the initial disruptions. Mainly because we can’t “do anything” to fix it and we don’t know how long it will be like this. Humans tend not to do well with uncertainty and a lack of control. I certainly don’t.
Those who have lived through the world wars and great depression know more about this, but there are far fewer of those people around us to tell us it will be ok and that you can survive, and even grow through the waiting and uncertainty. We have become too accustomed to instant fixes, fast downloads and money buying solutions, be that holidays to alleviate boredom, or even insurance for things like elective surgery. I currently have braces and now I don’t have any appointments and I have no idea how long it will be before I get them off. I don’t like that!
But in these times we need to keep to the ancient roads, to learn again from the deep and ancient wisdom of God in the Bible. To see things from his perspective and to draw strength and encouragement from others who have gone before us and have had to wait. Some for long periods of time with only their faith to get them through. This has been and continues to be the story of faith; faith in a faithful God. God wants to meet us in the waiting rooms of life, but it can’t be hurried, and it can’t be controlled. We often have our go-to stories, like Abraham who had to wait 25 years for God to fulfill his promise. Along the way his faith waivered and he tried to fix the situation through his own means. That didn’t end well, yet the Bible still commends him for his faith and in the end God did fulfill his promise. Also over that 25 years Abraham did meet God, he was not abandoned, yet there also wasn’t a fast track fix to fulfill his deep desire for a son. Then there was Joseph who had to wait two years for God to do something after he had been sold as a slave and then thrown into prison based on the lies of his master’s wife. I imagine he had some long days of questioning and pondering. Was that it? Would his situation ever change?
The Psalms are full of questions and cries; how long O Lord must we wait? Why are things as they are and why do you not act? Yet they are also jammed full of promises that God is with us and has not abandoned us and that we should wait on him. The end of Psalm 27 exhorts us “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” Jesus also comforts us with these words from John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." So rather than wringing our hands in despair let us take this opportunity of being placed in this waiting room at this season of life to draw close to God. If we allow ourselves to wait on him and open ourselves up to what he wants to say to us and do in us then I believe there is a great opportunity for growth and a deepening of our faith and relationship with God. Fruit only comes with patient waiting and incremental growth.
We can’t always remain strong at all times, and there will be moments when we wobble and take our eyes off Jesus and off our heavenly Father and look at the circumstances around us just as Peter did after stepping out of the boat. As we feel that we are beginning to sink remember that Jesus moved to Peter and reached out and took him by the hand and he wants to do the same for you and me. What makes our faith work and of real value does not lie in our ability to conjure something up. Our faith works because of who it is in; Almighty God the creator of heaven and earth. He does not slumber or sleep and he has promised he will never leave us or forsake us. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He is before all things, in all things and in front of all things.
So as we wait let us give thanks for what we have, give thanks for God’s grace and love, and continue to put our trust in him even when we feel ourselves sinking. God is faithful, that is just who he is and he can’t be anything other than is true self. His Holy Spirit lives in us and intercedes for us and because of that we have great hope and the opportunity for real joy that goes beyond our circumstances. There are many around us who are not in relationship with God and don’t have that same confidence and hope. In this time of waiting and challenges may we find ways to share the hope that we have in real and meaningful ways with those around us. So be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Grace and Peace - Garry