The Waiting Room
- May 5, 2018
- 3 min read
Tuesday, I sat in the waiting room of Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles with my dad.
My mom had skin cancer and they were removing the spot on her chest. They would also remove the lymph nodes to make sure it hadn’t spread.
This was more than a one day process, the waiting. It has spanned out over a couple months. A lot of waiting on doctor’s appointments, results and so on. A lot…Okay, all of it, was out of our control. But, we were finally on the road to getting answers, one way or another.
As I sat in the waiting room, all morning and afternoon, I saw family members of other patients walk in and out. Receiving news. Some celebrating over the birth of a baby. And others receiving news that might have altered their lives. Many from different backgrounds. Many with different lifestyles. One thing they had in common…Waiting.
For our family, we didn’t get an answer right away that day. We would have to wait a few days before knowing.
Life is a waiting room.
We’re all waiting for something.
I feel like I’ve always been in some sort of waiting season of life. And I don’t see that going away anytime soon.
Whether it was graduation. Or getting a job. Or now it’s finding the right guy. Finding the next career step. Or a particular health situation or financial crisis. Finding the right place to live.
There’s always going to be some uncertainty or unknown.
I could let it drive me crazy, like I’ve let it for most of my life – with fear, worry. But, what does that solve? Nothing. It just makes me anxious and miserable. And we weren’t called to live that life.
I watched those in the waiting room. Some sleeping. Some chatting with other relatives. Some on their phones, texting or making phone calls. Some walk in, timid and unsure of where to go. Others, on a mission and know exactly what they’re asking for.
We’re all just trying to make the time go by. Make it a little easier on ourselves.
We’re all praying for a small miracle or a big one.
But, even when we don’t get the outcome we’ve been hoping and praying for, God is still good.
I was reading out of my She Reads Truth Bible and one of the devotions caught my eye. It was called, "But If Not, He Is Still good. The message was “God doesn’t promise to save us from the flames. But He has promised to be with us as we walk through the fire – and either rescue us in this life, or through death for our eternal salvation.” This is from the Biblical truth of Isaiah 43.
I'd just spoken to my coworker about this very thing at lunch. We all use the hashtag #Godisgood when something goes our way or when we've gotten the thing we wanted. But, even if we hadn't, God is still good. Our circumstances don't change the very core of who He is.
Yesterday afternoon, my mom’s doctor called her and said that everything came back clear. She let my dad and I know in our group chat. The lymph nodes were negative. PRAISE GOD! Yes, that’s the news we were praying for. But, I understand that life doesn’t always work out that way. We don’t always hear the yes or no we’re looking for.
What we do doesn’t usually change the outcome or situation we’re going through. But, HOW we wait. Well, that’s everything.
God is in the waiting. Meet Him there. Draw near to Him.
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