day 319: Waiting Times

Not long ago I was heading into a meeting but the person I was meeting with was not yet out of his other meeting so his assistant, said; "You can wait here in this room". She offered me coffee or water and then shut the door to leave me waiting. Any one who works and goes to meetings has had the experience of having to wait. Sometimes formal like this, like a doctor's office. Other times, it is standing or sitting in a hallway, just waiting either by ourselves or with others. On this one instance, I did not have my usual waiting helpers. I usually carry my laptop, my Kindle, a newspaper or my phone with my email on it. I did have my phone with email on it but with no data coverage inside of the office, it was not of any help. So instead of scrounging around for something to read, I decided to just take the time and try and relish some silence and peace, both which are hard to find these days. If I could have anticipated or heard when the door would open, I would have just closed my eyes for a few minutes. Instead, I took the time to be silent and see what I could hear inside myself. I would like to say that I heard the voice of God, but I didn't. I just rested and waited. By the time I was asked to get up and move to another office for the meeting, I was in a different state of mind than I was when I entered the office. While I was not really stressed on this day, I was even that much more at peace by having a few minutes of waiting time. It was rejuvenating and restorative. I am going to try and remember this day and look forward to waiting times as times that are good for me. God also tells us that waiting time is good for us. In Psalm 37:7, we are encouraged to wait; "Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act." Sometimes I suspect that we are given waiting time, just so we can learn to be still and practice this as we wait on Him. Maybe what we are supposed to do with the waiting times (literally and figuratively) that we are given within our work is to turn that time into the dual purpose of finding time of peace and to be still in the presence of God. If faced with waiting times this week, see if you can turn that waiting time into time of even larger productivity and meaning.

Reference: Psalm 37:7 (New Living Testament)