I know I’ve been somewhat quiet of late. Part of the problem is a lot of busyness and another is feeling in limbo. Have you been there? As in life feels stuck on “hold” and you keep hearing wait and wondering if it’s going to be no? Whether it’s a job or relationship or health issue, we want to know the future now, don’t we? But life doesn’t work that way, and that’s where I’ve been and why my posts are often comments from other people. (I apologize for that – I miss you all – I love our interaction!)
I find it interesting to realize in this new version of God’s waiting room that life really is a journey. When I finally got past waiting to see my books published, I never thought I’d have to wait again. (Don’t laugh!) 🙂
I mean, after 20 years, surely I’d learned patience, hadn’t I? But you know…God sees us differently than we see ourselves. He knows me, knows exactly where I need fixing or which rough edges need to be smoothed over.
Maybe it’s just me, but I would bet most of us like to be in control. Even the commercials on TV spout songs about not telling me what to do. And in years past one singer made doing it his way famous. We really don’t change with time.
So many of us say it’s gotta be MY way, when God is telling us that we can’t see the bigger picture. Our vision is finite. We don’t even know what tomorrow will bring. We make great boasts about our plans for tomorrow but James (the brother of Jesus) tells us:
“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
I think I forget how fleeting life is, how temporary earthly goals can be.
Yesterday, I had the privilege of speaking to a middle school class about success. They asked me questions about what I thought made me successful or it meant to be successful.
Besides my introverted self feeling a little too much in the spotlight, I think I answered it fairly well. The thing is, I don’t count all of my earthly goals as my ultimate success. I’m grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to be a wife, a mom, a grandma, an author, a sometimes speaker, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a friend, and the servant of a sweet cat, but those are all “here” things.
Success isn’t in attaining goals. Success is in relationship with my Creator, in knowing Him and doing the work He gave me to do.
Solomon, the wisest of all men, tried every earthly thing he could to test how far his wisdom would hold. He denied himself nothing. He saturated himself with every pleasure. His wealth and power allowed him to do anything he wanted. And near the end of his life he declared it all vanity – chasing after the wind.
His conclusion? That in the grand scheme of life – whether we are “in limbo” or waiting for God to act or hoping for the next wonderful thing to happen – none of it comes close to what will happen in the next life. So Solomon warned young people to be cautious – go ahead and enjoy your youth – but remember that only God remains.
Only God.
That question the boy asked me about success? I told him that what really mattered to me wasn’t horizontal success as in being a good wife, mom, or author, but that it was vertical – in knowing God and doing what pleases Him.
I’ve done a lot of pondering in this next phase of waiting on God, but maybe I’m a little older and wiser now and waiting seems more like a gift than a curse. In the waiting room we give God a chance to do His work in us and in others and in situations. We pray in expectation, and we learn thanksgiving and how to bless others.
We can still love from the waiting room. And we can still hope. We just don’t have the answers, but that’s okay because God does. When He’s ready, He’ll share them with us.
So that’s where I’ve been. I’m waiting on some news I hope to share with you all soon and well..
I’d love to hear how you all cope when you are stuck in limbo or feel like you’ve been put on the longest hold ever. What is God teaching you?
Shalom – Peace be upon you all.
#waiting #liveloveprayhopetrust #alwayshope
