I think I am discovering the reason why people waiting for medical care in this country are called 'patients' - it's because patience is the one asset we are going to need again and again! I am on a long pathway of care that has kept me waiting for major surgery for many months now and shows no sign of coming to an end soon. This time last year I received the welcome news that full funding for this surgery has been approved by my local health authority. Getting to that point alone seemed like a miracle, but not one that happened quickly. I am grateful for the faithful support of family and praying friends who have not given up on me yet, and who encourage me to 'hang in there' when the waiting seems to be overpowering me. Here are some of the helpful tips I have received and I hope they may assist you if you are waiting for a longtime for your prayers to be answered:
1.
Occupy your mind as much as you can. This is diversion therapy and can really help us if we engage with it. The Bible says of the final return of Christ that his people should 'occupy themselves until he comes'.. another of those bits of wisdom that we thought were new but prove to be centuries old in God's Word.
2.
Believe that you are Special and not Forgotten. I find the hardest part of waiting can be the fear that those who may be responsible for our care have forgotten us.We may have good grounds for thinking like this when we see in the media about people abandoned on trolleys and even left in linen cupboards by over-stressed health-care workers. But God has not forgotten us. He has engraved (or tattooed) our names on the palms of his hands. In fact, in the Bible God says that even if our father and mother forget us - he will never let us go.
3.
Avoid Negative Stuff like the plague! I know that I have to guard my intake, especially of media, books, magazines etc that feed my fears and not my faith. I am having to turn off the TV much more than I used to. Don't be lured into watching nihilistic, negative and nasty programming like much of the soaps and even some documentaries. Choose your intake wisely and make room for the promises of God. You may even have to be choosy about the people you hang out with.
4.
Remember that God's in charge - not the devil nor the doctors, and certainly not me! When we place our hands in the hand of the one who stilled the storms on Lake Galilee we can trust in his love for us. There is not one tiny jot of abusive intent in his love. He will see us through, in his time not ours.
