Are You In A Holding Pattern?
There are few things more frustrating than the pilot’s announcement that your flight is in a holding pattern! How long? Why? What is the problem? When will this end?
In recent days, I have counseled with a number of people whose lives and ministries seem to be in such a holding pattern. What is God doing? When will this be done? Why did this happen?
The questions come frequently in such times…but the answers do not come as easily.
I lived through a season like this in my own life. There was no green light or red light. More of a caution. Wait. Go slow. Watch. Listen.
It was in this period of time that the Lord taught me some of the most precious truths about Himself. I would not trade the holding pattern for anything. God met me there.
Are you in a holding pattern?
God is getting you reading for something, and God is getting something ready for you. At the right time, the two will intersect, and you will know it. We place pressure on ourselves that God does not place on us! You do not have to have all the answers.
Sometimes you just have to wait.
- Why did Jesus wait until He was 30 to begin His ministry if He was full of wisdom at the age of 12?
- Why did His ministry only last three and a half years?
- Why in those years did He not go everywhere, heal everyone, and do everything He could have?
Yet in John 17, Christ could finally testify, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” The only thing you have to do is exactly what the Father tells you to do.
Nothing less. Nothing more.
Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. God’s timing is just as much a part of His will as the person, place, or project He has for you. Wait on the Lord.
Repeatedly, the Son of God said, “Mine hour is not yet come.” Not yet. Don’t get ahead of God.
Finally, Christ said, “Mine hour is come.” When it comes, set your face toward Jerusalem. Don’t get behind the Lord.
David felt this frustration. He had in his heart to build a Temple for God (1 Chronicles 22:7). God said no. It will be done later. Not now. It is a reminder that everything in our heart is not placed there by God. Just because you have something in your heart doesn’t mean it is God’s time.
When David’s life was through, God said that he was “a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will” and that “he had served his own generation by the will of God” (Acts 13:22, 36). You may not do all that is in your heart, but if you do all that is in His heart, you have fulfilled your purpose!
The greatest lesson I have learned in the holding patterns of life is to wait on the Lord. Your Pilot knows the destination and the exact time to bring you into it. Remember that God can do more in an instant than we can in a lifetime.
Wait on the Lord.
Resources:
Listen to a Bible message on this subject: “When the Lord Leads You In Circles.”
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Great article! As a Missionary on deputation I often wonder why it’s so difficult to move forward sometimes. This was an encouragement to me
Praying for you and your family.
Good message, thank you Brother Pauley.Mitchel Wacks
Thank you, my friend. I hope you are well!
What a blessing. A truth that we often hear, “wait on the Lord”, but need a reminder when you are going through it.
The true pattern of the Christian life: Wait, Follow, Wait, Follow. It continues on until He takes us home.
We all are learning this lesson!
A great truth! Moses, David, Joseph, Elijah, John the Baptist, Jesus, and Paul — all had ‘solitude experiences’ / “holding patterns”! It is there that one must choose to dwell in His bosom! “Your solitude with God is what will prepare you for the dark nights of your soul!”