Joy in Waiting

No news is good news. At least in my case, that is true. I had an ultrasound on my sweet baby boy as requested by my new doctor in California. But before this new doctor could make an appointment with me to review the ultrasound results, we left for Phoenix… for four weeks. Phone call after phone call couldn’t make the scheduling work. The solution; I left for Phoenix with the promise that my doctor would call me if the ultrasound seemed troubling to her. Otherwise, I wouldn’t hear from her until my next OB appointment in February. So, no news is good news.

It’s been five days now, and no phone call. This is good. But the question that lingers is when can I officially assume that everything is ok? After a week? After two? The fact is, my doctor never said when she would call.

Like so many things in life, the waiting process affects us all. I’ve watched friends wait for their spouse to return from deployment, and I’ve also waited with others for a biopsy result to see if a growth is malignant or benign. Others have waited for a new promotion at work, or waited to see if their offer on that new house got accepted. Still others are waiting for their dear little baby to begin sleeping through the night, or to finally potty train without incident. Regardless of what we’re waiting for, the very process of waiting always presents us with choices. We have the choice of being content with the current or complaining. Between fear and trust in the Lord. We can choose to focus our desires on what we want to happen, or we can center our desires on Who controls the future of all things.

Lamentations 3:25-26 wisely says “The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

I don’t want to get trapped in the “what ifs” and “maybes” of tomorrow, so I must daily choose to fix my thoughts on His steadfast promises. I am training my thoughts to rest on that which is certain and unfaltering in the character of my Heavenly Father. It is so easy to waste these priceless moments with my two darling little boys and the wiggly little one in my tummy because of fear and worry about the future. But these days, the beauty of Jesus Christ is most dear to me through His steady, unfaltering promise that He is working all things in my life together for good (Rom 8:28). And though the process may be painful, and the mode may seem less than ideal, He has promised me His love (Rom 8:35) and He has promised to never leave me nor forsake me (Heb 13:5).

Today, I choose to trust in the Lord as I wait to meet my beloved baby boy. As I wait for a phone call that may never come, I call to mind the certainty of my salvation, and I joyfully wait for God’s promises to be fulfilled toward me. Waiting is a part of life, but the Lord is the strength of my life and my song, in Him alone do I put my trust (Is 12:2).