By Joseph A. Perry

I was standing in the emergency waiting room after praying with a family at a hospital. Then I begin talking with them as they waited for their loved one to come through a serious surgery.

I watched the family sit there, each of them humming a tune to themselves, they seemed to have a spirit of overwhelming peace. I begin to ask questions in my mind: do I have peace as I await the Lord to do something major in my life? Do I have a certain fear while I deal with those unsettle things, and the uncertainties of life?

Peace must be paramount. As believers in the Lord, as we wait on Him in our own waiting room of life, too often we don’t have it. Too often peace can’t be found. Somehow the peace of God in us is missing.

Sometimes we look around and see so many others, who we feel don’t have to wait on the things they desire. It seems like they receive whatever they want, when they want. We feel like we were being left out of what the Lord was doing for others and not doing it for us. When this happens, we need the Lord to whisper a thought-provoking word in our spirit, that He in the midst of it all gives us a peace that surpasses all understanding.

In Psalm 37:1-10, King David is writing at an old age. He has been through some things, and he has overcome some stuff. He appears to be at peace with life as he has gone through his ups and downs. The truth of the matter is, if we keep on living, life will teach us how to deal with some things we never thought we could or would deal with.

Just keep on living. The Bible teaches us not to fret, not to be envious, not to get upset and angry, or even have hate for others because of what they have obtained in life.

Being envious and hating on others is a sin. If you wait on God, He will come through and do it for you. While you continue to wait in life, you just need to have peace in the waiting room.

In the waiting room, you need to:

4Discover it. King David is sharing a word to look at God. You need to see that the Lord has a timing for each of us. You don’t need to get upset and angry because of what someone else has, or what someone else is doing. Just look at what you already have, and keep an eye on what you are doing.

4Dwell on it. David tells us to keep the faith. There were times in David’s life when faith in God was all he had. Especially when you’re by yourself, and you have to tackle the giants in your life, and the people who you thought were with you were trying to destroy you, and all you could do is have faith, all you can do is tie a knot and hold on. Stay with God. You’ve got to stay with the one who has been with you through the thick and thin. If you trusted Him before, you need to trust Him again. He will keep you in perfect peace as your mind stays on Him.

4Delight in it. You must remember to enjoy and be content with what you have and where you are. Hold on to the good things that are happening in your life. Waiting has never been easy for anyone. However, waiting has the ability to create in us that which may have never been in us. We can gain one of the fruits of the Spirit, which is peace.

Remember, the Lord is still working, He’s still operating, and He still has a plan for you. He’s the wonderful Surgeon, who’s operating on our lives, and even though we may not see behind the curtain, and we may not know what’s going to happen next, you can rest assured, that He has it all under control.

The Rev. Dr. Joseph A. Perry is pastor of St. Mark AME Zion Church in Suffolk. Contact him at josephp134@gmail.com.