So What Are You Waiting For?

I hate waiting for doctor’s appointments. I can’t count the number of times I have arrived early or on time for an appointment only to be kept waiting. I know doctors usually have very busy schedules, but then, so do I most days. However, I wait patiently, most of the time, flipping through one of three magazines in the office, which are normally to do with very interesting subjects like golf, real estate or the financial affairs of Wall Street. Then I start to get very sleepy, but I don’t dare close my eyes. If I do, I’ll slide out of my chair and onto the floor, 

collapsing into a coma. When I go to sleep, I am very asleep. So I make sure I stay awake in public places. Otherwise, it could prove to be very embarrassing with lots of snorting and drooling involved. 

Finally, they call my name and carry me back to a room where they ask me to put on a paper gown and sit on an examining table. It’s always freezing cold in these rooms, which makes for the perfect place to sit and wait while wearing only a paper napkin. This room is usually void of magazines, but they make up for it by putting up pictures of the inside of my body for me to admire while I wait. I also get to stare at a wide variety of medical instruments. Here I can play a game which involves trying to guess what purpose each instrument serves and how it will be used in my personal examination. I also use this opportunity to read any certificates that are hanging on the wall, paying close attention to the dates. Anything before 1950 makes me very nervous. 

When the doctor finally opens the door, I snap to attention and adjust my paper napkin to make sure I am fully covered. Of course, once the doctor starts to examine me, the paper napkin is just in the way and by this time I don’t really care anymore. I’m always a little disappointed when the doctor only uses the tools that are in his or her pocket and not the instruments I’ve been staring at for almost thirty minutes. Why is this? Are those instruments only for display? 

After only about two minutes the doctor scribbles something in my file and tells me his or her diagnosis, which usually involves a virus, bacteria or a very long name I can’t pronounce, much less remember. Then the doctor says the magic words, “You can get dressed now,” and disappears into the sea of waiting patients patiently waiting.

Life can be all about waiting sometimes. We spend a lot of time doing just that; waiting for a doctor; waiting for our car to be repaired; waiting for the cable man to come out to the house; or just waiting our turn in line at the grocery store. We wait for children who are going through phases to come out of the phase or to start a new phase. We wait for a husband or a wife to turn back into the person we fell in love with and married. We wait for a daughter or a son to realize we are not completely crazy and we can offer some sound advice for their road ahead. 

Christ came to give us an abundant life right now. Don't be one of the chosen frozen. Life involves enough waiting as it is, but as Christians we need to live the open and expansive life God has called us to live. 

We seem to do a lot of unnecessary waiting along the way. We accept Christ as our personal Savior and everything is wonderful, but then we just stop living. Instead we sit down and start to wait. Christ didn’t die on the cross so we could just sit and wait for His return. He did not die so we could stop living our lives and find nice comfortable chairs to sit in until He calls us to heaven to be with Him. 

In II Corinthians 6:11-13 Paul says,

“Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively.” (The Message) 

We should never be caught waiting at the heaven bound bus stop, twiddling our thumbs and checking our watches. We should live full and abundant lives. What better way to draw others to God. Instead of playing the waiting game, get busy doing what you see in front of you to do. So what are you waiting for? 

Excerpt from "Life is a Buffet So What's On Your Plate?" Copyright © 2009 by Polly D. Boyette "All rights reserved."