God’s “Holding Pattern”
(October 27, 2025)
If it has ever happened to you, you know how frustrating it can be to be stuck in
an airplane in a holding pattern over an airport. The reasons for this can vary from
poor weather conditions to an accident on the runway. In any case, being so close
to your destination yet unable to land is hard for most people to take. It can be
the same with our God.
Sometimes He has our lives in a holding pattern. Maybe you want to get married,
but circumstances are preventing it. Or you are anticipating getting a new job yet
week after week goes by with no news. Maybe you had a test to determine if you
have cancer but the results won’t be in for weeks.
Maybe you’re in a time of discipline where God is refining you. Taking away the
dross in your life as He turns up the heat. So, you wait…and wait.
David, son of Jesse, found himself in just such a holding pattern when, after
Samuel anointed him the next king of Israel, he had to wait 13 years before he
took the throne to reign. And all the time he waited, King Saul was trying to take
his life. And remember, David did not know how long he would need to wait. He
simply waited for God’s time.
I believe that one of the things God wants to teach us is how to wait productively.
As we mature, when we experience difficulties and trials and discipline, our
question changes from “why me, Lord?” to “what am I to learn, Father?” We
become less concerned with our personal comfort and more desirous of God’s
glory in our lives. In other words, we want to be more like our Savior and see Him
lifted up in our life than being comfortable.
So, what question are you asking of the Lord lately? Are you stuck, or worse yet,
demanding an answer to the “why” question? Or are you seeking to discover
what it is God is trying to teach you through your circumstances? Is there a sin
that needs to be rooted out of your life. Let’s begin to ask the right question.