I remember a woman I met when I was serving as a chaplain of a large hospital. This woman, whom I’ll call Debbie, was a patient in the intensive care unit as she awaited a double lung transplant that could prolong her life.
I visited Debbie frequently during the months she stayed in the ICU. One day, I asked her how she was handling this time of waiting for something that was not guaranteed to come. Debbie thought for a moment, and then said, “I have faith. I don’t believe that my waiting is in vain. I don’t know if I will get this lung transplant that I want so much. But I feel the presence of God through my family, the staff here at the hospital, and the fact that I am still alive.”
I left Debbie’s room that day impressed by her determination to look for God in this very uncertain situation. Debbie waited expectantly to see how God would show up for her, even if she did not get what she wanted so much.
This message was excerpted from “The waiting place” by Jordan Miller-Stubbendick in the December 2019 Gather magazine.
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