Worry and Wait

I walked into the hallway from my doctor's office as another woman turned the corner from the Imaging Center next door.  We naturally fell into step and she pushed the down button at the elevator.  We began that small talk that strangers use to break the uncomfortable silence.  Though, I don't think either of us was uncomfortable.  We had been set up for this moment, but we didn't know it. 

"Good morning." "It's a beautiful day." "Not too hot yet." And as the elevator descended the conversation got a little more personal just because we both could see that we were both open to it. 

She heaved a heavy sigh and softly said, "Well.  That part's over.  Now all I have to do is worry and wait."  And that statement made me want to pull her close and hold her as tight as I possibly could.  Instead, I said, "You just came out of the Imaging Center.  It must not have been routine." 

"I had an EKG done, and now we wait to see the outcome."

"Only for a couple of days, " I ventured a guess.  "I don't like waiting a long time either, so I'll pray that you'll know soon."

"Well it's all in God's hands, isn't it?" she was cautious, but I could see that my comment about praying had opened a door.

We left the building and my time was running out as we started toward our cars.  We would part company soon, so I needed to say what she needed to hear, and God came through on the spot.  No waiting for Him this time.

"Psalm 56:3," my mouth spurted.  "'When I am afraid I will put my trust in You.' Psalm 56:3.  Don't forget it."

She smiled at me and I could see the encouragement and delight in her eyes as she saw the hope that came with these words.

"Psalm 56:3."  She was writing it down in her memory notebook.  "I'll look it up as soon as I get home and write it down, thank you so much!"

"I take that verse with me whenever I go into surgery," I told her. "It never fails to calm me and focus on Him rather than me.  God will bless you."

With that, we both went our separate ways to supposedly never meet again in this life.  I hope to meet her again in the next.  We didn't touch hands, we didn't hug as I would have liked.  She turned away smiling with the encouragement that God had given her, and I turned away smiling with the super blessing that God had chosen me to receive by sharing His wonderful Word.