Discover His heart: He is with us even when our life is on hold
Waiting for the big move, waiting for the next step, waiting for the ship to come in … waiting, waiting, waiting. When an airport gets backed up with planes ready to land, we find ourselves circling the airport in a holding pattern for what seems like an eternity. The inconvenience of a late arrival is insignificant, however, compared to the possibility of running out of fuel while waiting for our opportunity to land. In these moments, tempers often flare, and the stress factor is huge. Sometimes life hands us a similar scenario – waiting to get to our destination but concerned that we’ll run out of gas, so to speak, before we arrive. Stressful.
“Sometimes the cloud would stay over the Tabernacle for only a few days, so the people would stay for only a few days, as the Lord commanded…Sometimes the cloud stayed only overnight and lifted the next morning. But day or night, when the cloud lifted, the people broke camp and moved on. Whether the cloud stayed above the Tabernacle for two days, a month, or a year, the people of Israel stayed in camp and did not move on. But as soon as it lifted, they broke camp and moved on.” (9:20-22) I can’t cut the Israelites much slack concerning their constant grumbling about their nomadic lifestyle. I mean really, a tangible cloud to follow and know exactly where to go and when to go? But I guess that holding pattern got to them at times, and waiting can add significant stress to our lives as well.
A few years ago I had my finger on the Delete key, ready to delete this blog. My life was in a holding pattern, I felt I had little to say of importance, and I was running out of gas. The Lord stopped me mid-strike on the key and directed me to blog each day about my daily Bible reading. Even during the holding patterns of life, God has a purpose for us. We can grumble and complain about our situation, but we are better served by focusing on Him and His intentions. Perhaps the Israelites would not have spent the next 40 years on the road had they used their downtime to worship their God who guided them so clearly and desired fellowship with them instead of whining about almost everything.
“While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses because he had married a Cushite woman. They said, ‘Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t He spoken through us, too?’ But the Lord heard them. (Now Moses was very humble—more humble than any other person on earth.)” (12:1-3) During one of their stops, the siblings of Moses got a little irritable and developed a critical spirit about their brother – not the right response to their holding pattern. When we lose our focus on Him during these periods of waiting, it’s very easy to become self-absorbed, and what a price was paid by Miriam!
God was displeased by her critical spirit, and Miriam was stricken with leprosy and forced to live alone outside of the camp. “So Miriam was kept outside the camp for seven days, and the people waited until she was brought back before they traveled again.” (15) Can you imagine Miriam’s humiliation? As one of Israel’s leaders, she was the reason Israel continued in a holding pattern. Often, our attitudes and responses are what keep us on hold.
No matter how we look at it, waiting, waiting, waiting is difficult, but our response to it is what makes all the difference. Focusing on God and finding our purpose while we are in our holding pattern will ensure that we are ready when that cloud begins to move.
Moving Forward: So thankful today that He is with me in my holding pattern and that He has given me purpose.
Tomorrow @ I Chronicles 15-19
Phyllis Benigas 