Wait – A Short Word but the Hardest to Do
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness. I say myself, “The Lord is my portion: there I will wait for him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24 NIV
I listened intently as the doctor described the cancer diagnosis explaining to me the rare form of lymphoma I had and what to expect in the coming days. I asked, “So what is the treatment and when do we start?” In which she replied there were more tests needed to complete for the treatment study. “I will send orders right away. It will take about 2 to 3 weeks to get all the results,” she said.
My heart sank deep into my stomach. I had waited for months for confirmation of the type of blood cancer, and now I was facing more waiting. The doctor noticed my pause. “Are you OK? I know it is a lot to take in but we want to be sure of everything before we recommend a treatment plan,” she said.
I responded I was fine. We had known it was a form of blood cancer for a while so that didn’t seem to shake me as much as the waiting. “Normally, I like to talk to my patients face to face, but you live so far away so a phone call was the best I could do. We have resources available to you as you go through this process,” she added.
As our conversation ended, I looked out the window and said, “Thank you God for the confirmation. But why more waiting?” I stared at the birds flying around my patio and watched the wind chimes swing with the wind forming a symphony. The birds began to chirp along. Tears welled up in my eyes I thought, “More waiting God, why?” Can’t we just move forward? Then I felt God speak to me, “Have I ever left your side?” I then began to listen more closely to the birds and wind chimes. I realized that God sent the wind and birds to let me know that He was near. Birds and wind chimes are two of my favorite things to listen to. I felt God saying, “Waiting is Me preparing the way.”
Sometimes in our waiting we are ready for something to happen quickly, but things are not the way God wants them to be. We may be ready to move on something, but everything hasn’t been lined up for our good. He only wants the best for His children. So, when you are facing challenges, whether, financial, health or work, and God doesn’t seem to be moving--know that He is working it all out for us. We just must trust and, yes, wait.
Mitzie Avera
