While You Wait

The waiting room at the cancer clinic is one of the most sacred places I have ever been.

Cancer is no respecter of persons so people from all walks of life sit together. Some talk with friends or family, but most seem to sit quietly. Jake and I would always hold hands.

We were all waiting.

Some wait for good news, to ring the bell, or hear the words “cancer free”. Others wait for a difficult diagnosis or a sad prognosis.

They all wait.

The most sacred part of the waiting room was the hope I saw in those who wait.

Whether they waited for the good or the not so good, they were kind, happy, and hopeful.

They smiled.

They smiled in the waiting.

I wouldn’t wish cancer on anyone, but I wouldn’t trade our time in the waiting room for anything.

Elder Gong, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said,

“During this life, we sometimes wait upon the Lord. We may not yet be where we hope and wish to be in the future. A devout sister says, ‘Waiting faithfully upon the Lord for His blessings is a holy position. It must not be met with pity, patronizing, or judgment but instead with sacred honor.’”

During Jesus’ mortal life he became aware of a man whose daughter was ill. On his way to heal her he met a woman who was waiting.

The scriptures say she had an “issue of blood” for twelve years. No treatment seemed to help. She saw many physicians, but no one could cure her. In fact, she was left with no money and the scriptures say she was “nothing bettered, but rather grew worse” (Mark 5).

“When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
“For she said, if I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
“And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
“And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
“And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
“And he looked round to see her that had done this thing.
“but the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
“And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace and be whole of thy plague.”

Sometimes I think about this woman, what her life must have been like. Mostly I think of the faith needed to draw healing from touching the Savior’s clothing as He passed by.

I think her power came from the waiting.

I know people who are waiting.

Waiting for righteous blessings to be bestowed, answers to be revealed, or for wholeness to come or return.

Even I am waiting.

How often do I pity that position? Even though the waiting is so sacred. So holy.

I thought about that waiting room at the cancer clinic today. I remembered the last thing I wanted or felt was pity.

All I wanted, all we felt, was hope.

Imagine sitting in a waiting room to see a doctor with a 100% rate of cure.

How long would you wait?

6 months?

12 years?

Longer?

We call Jesus Christ the Master Healer. The Perfect Physician.

The prophet Isaiah taught, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint”. (Isaiah 40:31)

There is nothing He cannot cure, no hurt He cannot heal.

He can make us whole.
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He makes the waiting Holy.