What is it about going to the doctor or dentist that makes it such a foreboding experience? Is it the words, “Okay, lie back on the table and I’ll…”? Or how about when the dentist asks, “Are you comfortable?” just before he thrusts the auger in your mouth. Doesn’t the thought of it all cause your blood to run cold? But let’s not be too hard on them; they do try to make us relax a bit in the Waiting Room. This is where all of the victims patients gather before their procedures. TVs, aquariums, magazines, books and life insurance pamphlets are strategically placed to take our minds off of the little procedure that awaits us just around the corner in the last room on the left. Perhaps it is the Waiting Room that presents the greatest struggle for me. I sit there thinking: If this has to happen, why do I have to wait for it? Would it not make more sense to use the time to escape?
Waiting is never fun, but interestingly, we are commanded to “wait on the Lord” three times in the scriptures. e.g. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. (Psalm 27:14). The phrase is also found in Psalm 37:34 and Proverbs 20:22. The Hebrew word wait used in these verses is similar to our word wait. It means, to delay action until a particular time, or until something else happens. But the Bible word seems to suggest a confident expectancy while we wait on Him. Take for instance the example cited above from Psalm 27. While we wait on the Lord, we can be of good courage. Why? because He shall strengthen thine heart. Anticipation of His promises makes the wait much more bearable.
God, who could give us instant everything, has ordained rather that we should wait. He knows that in waiting, our faith will be exercised, and when faith is exercised, it grows stronger.
You’ll have to excuse me now, my doctor is waiting patiently for me!