Life in the waiting zone

Life doesn’t always move as fast as we’d like. We want the restaurant table seating now, or the coveted job offer soon, or the call returned quickly. And we definitely wish the line would move faster and the check would arrive today, or the answer delivered immediately, if not sooner. In all of this, while we distract ourselves and focus elsewhere for a moment, the things we’re waiting for will eventually come in due time. Though, even better, to just sit and wait patiently on the Lord and dwell in him is the perfect place to be.

The secret about in due time, is that it requires waiting—that lull where we can either fret or just trust in the Lord. If he is sure to guide our steps, then we really don’t need to step ahead of him. Resting in him assures us that he’s got the reins; fretting says we’re holding on too tightly.

Too often, we put the cart before the horse in our goals and desires. Sometimes, it’s just better to sit on the horse and let God drive the cart. When we’re too quick or too rushed, we are prone to stumbling. Then we might really have problems. Is that all there is to the human condition…to be fighting an uphill battle, sometimes of our own making?

Our place is not to fight but to wait. To settle into a place where the peace of God can hold us up…a place where his word and his spirit can renew us to the point where we feel at peace right where we are. Waiting on the Lord and putting our hope in him goes against the fleshly nature, but it’s where true contentment lies.

“Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles…” Isaiah 40:31