Waiting In Peace

In the book Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Suess, he leads the reader through the ins and outs struggles of life. He highlights high points and low points. One of the low points he writes about is the Waiting Place.

The Waiting Place...


You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles cross weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless 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 the waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.


Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for the 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.


NO!
That's not for you!


Well, yes it is for us. We are always waiting! We cannot escape it no matter how hard we try. It is easy as well to have the mentality that waiting is a useless place. However, to God is not. Yes, we are all waiting for something. It is hard. The Bible is full of people who were waiting for something, but most of all, they were waiting on God to move mightily on their behalf.

Noah was waiting for the flood

Abraham was waiting for a son

Joseph was waiting for the fulfillment of the dreams.

Leah was waiting to be loved.

The whole nation of Israel waiting to be free from slavery.

Hannah was waiting for a baby.

Esther was waiting to trap Hamman in his evil plan.

The whole nation of Israel waiting for the Messiah to be born.

All the ill/sick/handicapped people in the Bible waiting for healing.

Mary and Martha waiting for Jesus.

Paul and Silas waiting in jail.

We are told to wait for Jesus to return again.

From page to page and cover to cover of our Bibles, people are waiting. Even now, waiting is something that is never going to escape us. We want God to hurry up. We want an answer quick. We want to move on, instead, we are on hold and the situation feels like it is taking forever to be all sorted out. I believe it is more challenging now in a world that seeks immediate gratification to hear the call to wait, because of that, we become so restless and restlessness is a lack of peace.

Carl Lentz, the pastor of Hillsong, NYC said this on Sunday in his sermon he was peaching at Elevation, "If we are not careful, we will forget that Jesus said he would give us peace." We need to find peace in Jesus on a day to day basis. We need to have the scriptures in our heart and know what God says about the situation. We need to not reach for the panic button and instead pray.  The Bible says that God gives us his supernatural peace, the kind of peace that can surpass all understanding. That means you might not really be able to put it into words, except that you know that you know. God spoke on this matter. It will be done.


People will try to make it complicated, but it doesn't need to be. Pastor Lentz said it so simply.

Control what you can control.

Pray about the rest.

Maybe God wants us to learn to recognize the holy moments that waiting involves as he gently whispers and waits for us to be still so that we can hear him. If we are restlessly waiting, we cannot hear God. Waiting doesn't mean you are not loved by God or that he doesn't see your heart or hear your prayers. It means that we are loved so much so that God is arranging the best situation for us and that means that other things might need to settle into place first. There is something holy and sacred in the waiting place, and if we fling ourselves around as we wait, we will never find peace. Our blessing hinges on the waiting. Our character hinges on the waiting, Our knowing more about God hinges on the waiting.

The Bible has a lot to say about waiting, patience and peace. There are so many places that you could look for a word of encouragement. I'll point you to one that may be familiar to you and I love this translation from The Message.

Romans 8:24-25

We are saved by trusting. And trusting means looking forward to getting something we don’t yet have—for a man who already has something doesn’t need to hope and trust that he will get it. But if we must keep trusting God for something that hasn’t happened yet, it teaches us to wait patiently and confidently.

Whatever you are waiting for, you are not alone, at least you don't have to be. Reach out to others in your close circle of five to seven people you know and ask them to pray expectantly that God will move on your behalf and in the meanwhile, encourage you to trust God, his perfect plan for your life and that above all, that his will be done. Worship while you wait. Pour out your thoughts and voice in prayer and journaling before God. Not because he doesn't know already what is on your heart, but because in doing so, God will meet you there and in the sacred and holy space of waiting, you will have perfect peace.

Lord, learning to wait on you is never something we perfectly achieve, but we do know that you are good and you are constantly moving us from glory to glory as we trust in you. While we wait, help us to learn more about you, more about ourselves and to not panic, but pray. Help us to remember that your word has already been spoken about this, and as we ask for your will above all other things, help us to be still enough in our spirits and in our lives to hear your gentle whispers. Lord you know us, your plan is for us not against us. You are our portion. In you Lord, we have more than enough. Send your Holy Spirit to us as we wait to speak peace over us in whatever situation we are faced with. Lord, you have never failed us and you never will.