The Waiting Place

The waiting place… for people just waiting.
Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or a No or waiting for their hair to grow.

Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.

Everyone is just waiting.

(From, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! By Dr. Suess)

I read these words to my son while we were sitting in the waiting room of the doctor’s office, where everyone was just waiting

Soren looked at me and said, “I don’t like waiting.”

Little does he know that he is going to be waiting a lot. I just started allergy shots, so twice a week for the next year or so, he will join me after school while I get my shot and wait 30 minutes before I am given the ok to leave.

Nobody likes waiting.

Companies have monetized our aversion to waiting. We can pay to skip commercials on streaming platforms. We can pay to get through lines at amusement parks faster. We have been conditioned to flee from waiting. Amazon seems to take too long to get me my packages these days. What do you mean it will not be here till tomorrow morning?!

Even Dr. Suess didn’t like waiting! The next page reads,

NO! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying.
You’ll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

But what if the waiting place isn’t a place to try to escape? What if the waiting place is the very place God does his best work?

The ancient prophet of Israel wrote,

Isaiah 40:31

but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

According to Isaiah, the waiting place is the place we receive power from the LORD. My heart has always leapt at this passage, as John leapt inside his mother’s womb in the presence of the Christ Child. It is as if something inside of me knows it is true. My heart knows that the waiting place is where true growth happens.

But I have to be honest.

I have always wrestled with how to live this out. I know it’s true, but I have yet to experience it. How do I embrace waiting rather than try to escape to where the Boom Bands are playing?

I have a feeling I am not alone in this.

So, I invite you to PAUSE.

As we begin to explore this ancient truth, that the waiting place is where we receive the LORD’s strength, I invite you to take a few deep breaths. In. Out. In and back out.

PAUSE.

Pray,

Holy Spirit, slow down my heart, body, and mind as I wait on you.

Bring before God a situation in your life where you feel like you are stuck in the waiting place. What emotions come to the surface? What do you feel in your body? Bring these things before God. Be honest. He can handle and even honor your honesty.

PAUSE.

Pray,

God, I honestly brought before you how I feel about being in the waiting place. I now bring those feelings and experiences in submission to you through your Word.

“but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Holy Spirit, in a moment of stillness, as I listen, will you begin to reveal to me what you desire to show me and even gift me in the waiting place? I am open to hearing you speak.

PAUSE.

Did you sense God say anything? If so, what is your response to his word to you?

If you didn’t hear or sense anything, that is ok, perhaps God’s silence is an invitation to go into the waiting place with him in the days and weeks to come.

I encourage all of us to PAUSE once a day for the rest of the week as we willingly enter into the waiting place with the Holy Spirit as we wait for him to strengthen us.