Waiting

God tells us in Isaiah 55:8-9 “"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

When my husband crashed many years ago, he ended up in ICU of a major hospital for several weeks. I spent a lot of time in waiting rooms. When he was in our local hospital, they were more relaxed and I was able to stay with him regardless of the time of the day. In the big city the rules were enforced more strictly.

So, how did I spend that time, apart from wondering what was actually happening behind the closed doors of the ward.

The most important thing I did was pray. I prayed for a clear mind, to be reminded of things that needed to be dealt with. One thing I didn’t want, was to get through all of this and find that I had panicked so much that a lot of things had been left undone.

Another thing I did, was make sure that I looked after myself. I was careful to make sure that I ate proper food, I even managed to do some exercise, it was only walking to the shops to buy food but it was exercise. Getting proper sleep was not really successful but the other things made up for that. While we are in God’s waiting room, wondering what is happening behind those closed doors of the future we can do these very important things in preparation for the future.

Firstly, we can pray, pray for a clear mind, pray for God to show you on a daily basis what needs to be done, sorted and cleared up so that you don’t have extra work to cope with when you have finished waiting.

Secondly, look after ourselves spiritually. Making sure that we feed ourselves properly, through good fellowship, Bible study and prayer. Make sure that you get plenty of faith exercise. Each day we should ask God to show us something that strengthens our faith in Him. It could be something that in other circumstances we might put down to a co-instance or something that we haven’t seen for a long time, the sun rising, or a flower opening, all these things remind us that God is faithful and therefore should strengthen our faith in the plans that he has for us in the future.

Being in the waiting room is horrible, some people call it limbo, and it’s not a pleasant place to be. There is often very little positive atmosphere in such places. Yet, in such times God still asks us to trust Him, to be patient, for He will bring things together in His time and in His way.

These times, and there will be many of them in our lives, are preparation times for the next phase of our lives. They vary in the length of time that God requires of us to wait. Even while we are waiting God is moving and if we rely on Him to watch us and stay focused on Him we will be surprised at how much actually happens in the waiting room.