All The Time In The World

All the Time in the World

I expect to wait when I go to see the doctor—at least a reasonable amount of time. But on this day, my idea of reasonable was shortened by the fact that I felt lousy and had already waited nearly an hour to be called back to the examining room. Once I was inside, the nurse assured me that the doctor would see me “shortly.” I settled in for however long it took.

After perusing three only slightly interesting magazines, I curled up on the exam table and tried to use my bicep as a pillow. In another minute or two, the door next to mine opened, and I heard the doctor go inside. Then (I confess) I heard every word said by the patient whose turn was before mine. And he talked—a lot. I imagined his time with the doctor might be similar to a typical appointment of mine, but it was not. He went on and on. In violation, I am sure, of every HIPAA standard written, I learned where he lived, where he worked, what his brother died from, what other doctors he’d seen, and what questions he had about a plethora of concerns from West Nile virus to early onset Alzheimer’s.

At the beginning of each new gush of words, I waited for the doctor to cut him short. But she didn’t. She listened. His appointment lasted nearly as long as my commute to the office, my time in the waiting room, and my exam-room-magazine-reading extravaganza combined. Then I heard the door close. I expected the doctor might take a few minutes to recover, but within seconds, the door to my room opened. She walked in, completely present as she apologized and hugged me. No empathy spent in the previous appointment was subtracted from mine. More time for my fellow patient did not mean less time for me.

When others are demanding more of God’s attention, I sometimes imagine that he might lose sight of me. He does not. More grace for someone else is not less grace for me. And he has all the time in the world for me, no matter what’s been spent.

GOD’s a safe-house for the battered, a sanctuary during bad times. The moment you arrive, you relax; you’re never sorry you knocked.

Psalm 9:9-10, MSG