As the days drew nearer to His birth, Mary found herself in a time of waiting.
Could she have understood what it meant to carry the Christ-child? Humbly, she endured the looks and speculations of others—perhaps including Joseph. Even still, they persevered and embraced the “waiting room of life” and together welcomed the Messiah in due time.
Have you ever found yourself in a time of waiting?
Photo by Oladimeji Ajegbile on Unsplash
Maybe it was for test results, a health issue, your loved ones’ diagnosis, a job, marriage, or….?
During that time of waiting, how did you respond?
Perhaps you prayed—or even fasted, but still no word from the Lord! Most people do experience times of waiting. Last year about this time, we had no idea what the year would hold—it held a lot of waiting and a lot of white-out on our calendar as things needed to get canceled for us to go through this time of waiting.
In January, Joe had an emergency visit to the hospital to figure out what was going on with his health. He was then sidelined for five months until he could have surgery to correct and remedy his issue. He was patient, but he also dealt with a lot. One day he said something like, “I’m so discouraged, but I am also at peace.” Then, as we planned a trip to celebrate our new-found freedom after his recovery, I went to the ER for a severe re-injury to my back and wound up in ICU (critical care) for five days with totally unrelated and life-threatening issues. AGAIN, sidelined, and more waiting.
We do not always understand why we go through challenges and frustrating times of waiting.
Sometimes I wonder if they are for our growth in the Lord, or to reframe our view of various life circumstances. Unfortunately, we may never witness the entire picture as He sees it. What we do have control over is our reaction to this waiting period.
Trying to appreciate our own experience also helps us empathize with others.
We can wind up waiting for so many different things:
A job
Marriage
A child we’ve longed for
A first home
Tests to come back with good results
Surgery
A wayward child to return to the Lord and come home
ADD YOURS: ____________
Some have waited short periods, while others have waited for years for answers to prayer and have been waiting patiently. It also made Joe and I consider people waiting for death in their hospice room. They might be waiting and anticipating the next steps in life, through death, that awaits them as they wait upon the Lord.
How may we wait upon the Lord for the lessons we need to learn?
How may we do so with grace—even optimism, so that others can see Christ in us?
May we share our love for the Lord and what He is teaching us. May we take this season to cherish how Mary must have waited and anticipated. It is in the waiting room of life where we learn the most about ourselves and our Creator.
Let us be mindful of how we respond to these seasons of waiting.
Others are watching.
May we be a good example.
Dr. Joe and Cindi Ferrini share their newest book: Love All-Ways: Embracing Marriage Together on the Special Needs Journey (order at www.cindiferrini.com). They are authors, speakers, and bloggers for several blogging sites on marriage, family and special needs. They spoke nationally for FamilyLife Weekend To Remember Marriage Get-a-Ways for 20 years, authored *Unexpected Journey – When Special Needs Change our Course, and have been interviewed on Focus on the Family, FamilyLife Today, Janet Parshall at “In the Market”, Chris Brooks of “Equipped” and various other radio and television venues. Connect with them at: www.cindiferrini.com and via social media at: www.facebook.com/cindi.ferrini, www.facebook.com/UnexpectedJourney, www.facebook.com/MyMarriageMatters/
