Patience...Do you have it?

Good morning my sisters-

It's another great morning here in the state of Kansas.  We finally received the gift of rain and it's February.  Lately the ground has turned to dust and as the wind has picked up so has the soil.  The Lord is mighty though and saw the need of His people and the animals by providing a thunderstorm that washed over the earth.  The bounty of rain is one of the most needed elements on the earth and as the earth waited patiently the Lord provided and now the fields are full of much needed moisture, the birds have much needed water and our water supply is growing.  All in good time.

Have you ever sat down and contemplated how patience is one of the keys to being satisfied? Whether you're waiting on a spouse, a child, a job or a need, patience is the key to living a joyful existence but if you're like me, you probably run out after a long hike up a tremendously steep mountain, right?  We grow weary waiting and waiting never feels good.

Last week I had my first breast exam in over 17 years.  Before you say it, I KNOW!  It took me that long to make time for it.  I'm just too busy to go to the doctor, the dentist, well really anything that gets in the way of work.  It's not an excuse really because that's who I am.  However, in the back of my mind, I'd been thinking it was time to do the test, so I did.  And then, I got that call. " Lisa, the doctor would like you to have further tests this week."  Okay, now what?  Great attitude I know but that was the attitude with not a lot of patience.  I was already thinking, "What if?" 

Time ticked away for three days and then the test.  As I sat waiting with three other women all I could think about was the hundreds of women that had sat in the same waiting room and I was humbled and a little scared.  They came back that the doctor would like to do a sonogram on my left breast and my mind began racing to what would I do if they said, "You have cancer."

In my mind, I thought two things patience and trust.  Wait for the outcome my mind shouted and then the song "I will trust" came in my mind and as I came out of my in-depth thinking I was humming it, right in the waiting room. The diagnosis was good and nothing came of the hour that I spent waiting patiently to find out if I had cancer except a clearer understanding of what waiting means to someone that has cancer.

I learned a lot last week, mostly that someone on a daily basis faces the diagnosis of cancer.  They face wondering what it will be like to lose their hair, their eyelashes and eyebrows.  As they wonder how they will tell their family or how will they get through or the fact that they will be facing surgery and even the loss of their breasts. And if all of that isn't bad enough what about departing this world.  Believe me  when I say this, all of those thoughts ran through my mind in less than three minutes. Your mind races like a sports car going over a hundred and then when you say, "I trust in You," things begin to become clear.  You realize that you must practice patience in the face of adversity and in all things you must trust that you have reached this crossroads because God put you there.

Many have faced a different outcome than I and many more will face it.  For those of you that have sat in that waiting room wondering what tomorrow will bring, I get it.  I don't understand past that though and would never want to say that I do.  I also get one more thing, I get that Jesus is the only way I could have faced such a diagnosis, period.  If you are going for more tests, wondering what tomorrow will bring you, remember one thing, Jesus knows the answers, rest in Him and He will help in times where you grow weary, when you think life is not fair or when you just feel like your patience has run out and the outcome is not good. He is with you always!

I thank Jesus for this epiphany and for reminding me that many women have gone before me and faced this courageous battle.  Please pray for women all over the world that have just sat through those moments and were handed a very different diagnosis than I was.  Please pray that they will be patient, that they will not grow weary and that God will give them peace to face the race, one day at a time.

Isaiah 40:30-31New International Version (NIV)

³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
    and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the Lord
    will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
    they will run and not grow weary,
    they will walk and not be faint.

May the God, our Father, always walk with us in hope and faithfulness even if the answer is not what we wish to hear.  I praise You Lord for giving me a sensitivity to what others have heard.  The path of this journey is not always easy, as You proclaimed so long ago.  We ask that You would continue to guide us and provide us with great faith to be patient and to trust in times of hardship and in times of joy.  In Jesus Name. AMEN