“I’m waiting on You Lord, though it’s not easy. But faithfully, I will wait." ~ John
Waller
After Frankie and Drew Ahrens, a
couple in their early 30s, saw their physicians for routine physicals, they
didn’t have to wait for his blood work. Just
two days later, Drew logged onto a Website, perused his lab results and sighed
with relief. All normal.
But when Frankie followed suit, no results were displayed. Instead, a curt message flashed: ‘Contact Your
Doctor immediately.’
Internal alarms began screaming. Fear drenched her mind until there was no
room for anything else. These next few days
would either pass as a blip in the course of her life, or they would be the
trauma that shattered her into pieces.
Whoever said there's no way to make time stand still clearly
never had to endure the unbearable wait for medical test results. In an age of instant everything, waiting for
data from cutting-edge technology in anything less than a nanosecond defies
logic and seems unnecessarily cruel. A
potential result with an “Oh No!” conclusion is like walking across hot coals in
gasoline flipflops.
Frankie considered her options during the patient limbo period.
She could try to inoculate herself
by imagining the worst. If she could
stare, unblinking, into the abyss of worst-case scenarios, maybe the chasm would
blink first - and the news would be good.
Or she could keep busy to avoid ruminating. She could do something helpful for somebody
else. She might even try combatting her anxiety
by doing things she enjoyed – like power-shopping.
That day she left four messages for her doctor. No response. The next day, Frankie, who had a family
history of breast cancer, pleaded with the receptionist for help. The woman pulled her chart and said, “I can’t
tell you what it says, but I don’t think you should worry.”
Now frightened AND angry, Frankie chose to pray … with
urgency. Her impatience had come from forgetting
that God was in control; that His plan and timing were always best. As a result, the delay in getting what she
wanted caused her anxiety, irritability and intolerance.
Three days later the doctor’s nurse called. The test result that’d caused so much uncertainty
and misery was a vitamin D deficiency.
Frankie was literally stunned by relief; as if her life’s movie had been
kicked out of freeze frame by simply getting more sun and eating better.
When we remind ourselves that because God is good, and His
love and grace are enough, we can trust Him for how our day turns out, even in
the midst of delays. The solution to
impatience is learning to trust God for how things turn out and that His timing
and purpose for things is good, even when our plans are delayed.
Heavenly Father, instead of trying to control
people and things to accomplish my goals according to my schedule, help me
“fight the good fight of faith” and choose to trust Your outcome, no matter
what it is and how long it takes. Amen
