The Other Side of the Hospital Room
Many times throughout my life I have found myself laid up in a hospital bed for many days at a time. During these hospital stays, I tended to not think about a very special group of people. I would think about the doctors and the nurses. I would think about the other patients in the room with me or down the hall. I would even think about the people that were visiting me in my room.
The group of people I didn’t think about was the group of people sitting in the waiting room, waiting, hoping, praying for their loved one or friend to be okay.
But this past week, God had me focus on these people and be a light in the midst of a dark time to many of them.
I had stepped off the elevator onto the third floor of the hospital here in Gainesville. I was on a mission. I was there to pray for some people sitting in the waiting room. I didn’t know who or what their families situations were, I just knew I was there to pray for people.
As the elevator was moving, I became very nervous and hesitant. I started doubting myself and what I felt like I was called to do. Lies started penetrating my heart and mind. I was tempted to turn and run the other direction/ not get off the elevator. But as the doors opened, I knew that I had to get off. So I stepped off the elevator with Dillon, my friend who accompanied me on this mission. At this point, my prayers are prayers of desperation. I am praying and hoping I heard God right and that I really am supposed to be in the ICU waiting room praying for people.
As I look around the waiting room, there is one lady in the corner who makes eye contact with me. I brush it off as being too easy of a connection and that there is someone else I am supposed to approach. But her gaze followed me around the room. It was at this point that I surrendered my will and obeyed. She was sitting in the corner with a man and 4 young children. I went over and sat on the small table in front of their chairs and began a conversation. The lady was hesitant at first to talk to me, but when I explained what I was there to do, she opened up more. I sat and talked with them for a few minutes and asked the kids how old they were and what their names were. With this simple interaction, I became a friend to them.
I was able to sit and pray for this family and their loved one who had been brought in the night before. There was a peace that came into that corner of the waiting room. The family prayed with me and agreed with the healing power of God that was at work behind the doors to the ICU.
Dillon and I made our way around the waiting room praying for different families and their loved ones. And as we were leaving, we ran into the kids again with their mother. All of the children lit up, smiled, and waved at me when they saw us exiting the elevator they were about to get on. It was a completely different feeling than when I had first met them.
This was technically an assignment for a class, but it felt like so much more. It was an assignment from the Throne Room. It was an assignment to bring hope, peace, love, joy, and healing to a place where very little of that is found. It was a chance to walk into a dark room and immediately see the light of Christ spread throughout the space. It was definitely a moment to remember.
