Day 108 Waiting

The story of the man waiting by the healing pool has bounced around some in my mind today.

According to the story, he'd been laying near that pool, every day for thirty-eight years.  Thirty-eight years.  Can you imagine it? Can you imagine waiting for anything thirty-eight years? Waiting in the wind, the rain, the cold, the snow. Waiting for people to show kindness to you by providing food or a warmth from a blanket. Did someone take him in, physically carry him into their home when the nights grew bitter?


In today's society we sometimes have difficulty waiting thirty-eight seconds.  Impatience seems to mark the modern mind-set. We want our fast food freakishly fast according to one advertisement. Not only do we want it done quickly, but we want it done our way. Short tempers abound.  We are in such a big hurry.

So imagine, being paralyzed and waiting for a chance of being rolled into a pool that was purported to heal the first person who entered the water, when the water was stirred up.   Imagine being so desperate to be healed that you would willingly take the chance of drowning (after all, the man was paralyzed which means he couldn't swim to save himself). Imagine being so desperate to get into that water. Imagine the wait, the longing to be healed and live like the healthy.

When he was asked, "Do you want to be well?" he answered with an excuse. A really, really good one. Way better than most of us could offer. He was paralyzed, had been waiting for the healing water and replied there was no one to help him into the water.

That man's life had to have been awful. Not being able to move he had to rely on other people for food, drink and all the basics of life.  Thirty-eight years.  We don't know how old he was, just that his wait for wishing to get well was a long one. Perhaps he had a debilitating disease as a child, perhaps he had some sort of accident with a camel, or a fall off a roof. We don't know when his calamity fell on him, we just know that the result lasted nearly four decades.

We do some waiting. We wait to graduate from high school, college, grad school. We wait for the one. We wait to make a difference while we raise a family. We wait until we are healthy to do more for our communities.

Patience is a virtue they say.  And it's one of those qualities you never quite have enough of, even if you are a very patient person.  Waiting, however, that could be an excuse, if we aren't waiting for the right thing, or if we are waiting for the right time.

If we aren't careful, waiting can amount to wasting.  We've been given time. Some of us are paralyzed and yet aren't waiting or wasting. Some of us are attempting to do good things for self, others, community.  We can wait and do.

There seems to be so much need in the world.  That's why it is important we don't waste the time we've been given. 

We don't know what that man's life was really like. Maybe as he lay near the healing pool he spoke encouragement to others.  Maybe he brightened a child's day.  Maybe he sang.  All we know is that he was in that condition thirty-eight years before he got his chance to be healed.

So what do we do with our time as we wait.  I'm taking online courses, writing this blog, looking for a job, volunteering at my church with the food ministry.

What are you doing as you wait? Are you working on yourself? Are you finding a way to help a neighbor? Are you helping total strangers out on the plains?

I have a couple of friends who give to the community by helping people get to doctor's appointments.  What a gift they are to friends and family.  They quickly respond to the needs of others.  Another friend rides his motorcycle to raise money for those in difficult situations. They all do these things while waiting for their lives to change and improve. They give without expecting a return, yet I can tell you they are incredibly blessed just for being the generous people they are.

So, I ask again, while in this waiting season of our lives, what are you doing while you are waiting?  Make it good, make it count.

Be blessed.