Circling But Not Cleared To Land…
Lamentations 3:20-25 Amplified Bible (AMP)
20My soul has them continually in remembrance and is bowed down within me. 21But this I recall and therefore have I hope and expectation: 22It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. 23They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness. 24The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore will I hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him. 25The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him [inquire of and for Him and require Him by right of necessity and on the authority of God's word].
Most of us have been on an airplane. Most of the time our trips go according to plan with no major delays or problems; but I remember one trip I took and it seemed as if there was delay after delay just getting booked on the flight and underway. Then to top it all off when we got right over our destination, we were told to wait that we could not land, just yet. We could see the airport in the distance, we could see where we were supposed to be although not clearly, we were able to catch partial images and glimpses of it, but we did not have clearance to land. We were put in a holding pattern, circling the airport, for what seemed to be an eternity, how exasperating. The anxiety that most of the passengers felt you could feel permeating throughout the cabin of the air craft, the long sighs and the moans every time the captain would give us an update that we were not quite ready to land. I remember sitting there thinking to myself, when will this be over, will we have enough gas to be able to sustain us, what is really going on? My mind was reeling in thought and my heart was pounding with anxiety, as I am sure many others were as well by the conversations that were going on around me, but I had to remember God had always allowed me to arrive safe and right on time regardless of the time I arrived!
Many of us are right here, circling. We feel frustrated because God has allowed us to be put into a holding pattern. We can see where we are going off in the distance, we have an inkling, a feeling, a sense of where God is taking us, but we are not cleared to go there yet. We can see images although blurry we know that is a part of where we are supposed to be. Many of us have turned into the angry beaver because of it; frustration, exasperation and we are annoyed and irritated to no end. We feel so out of control of our lives because we feel stuck, and we feel as if God is left us in this pattern and forgotten about us. You know how I know because I am right there in the midst of the very same scenario. We know that God is doing something on the ground to prepare, but we can’t see it, and there seems to be so much traffic going in that direction that we are stuck, waiting. But what if God let us go before all that needed to be readied for us was in position, then what? What if there was danger in that place that we had not idea was there, then what? Sometimes God has us holding, waiting, circling because there are things in us that need to get in order, and sometimes it is things in others that need to be straightened out before He can take us out of that holding pattern and allow us to land in the place that He desires for us to be, and the place that we have been looking forward to getting to for a very long time.
Watching others get in position and arrive before us is never easy, especially when it seems as if you have been on our journey longer and have endured more to get there, but God knows what needs to be in order for us to enjoy the fullness of what He has for us. If the runway is not clear or the right people are not in position arriving when we want to would ultimately be disastrous, or result in a worse situation than what we may have been coming from. Sometimes God is holding us back from ourselves and sometimes it is others. Other times it is the need to set things in order, and others it is about reading us for the next phase of our journey with Him. I found in that time once I calmed my nerves by talking to my Daddy that I could catch a nap and organize my thoughts for what I had to do once I landed. God may be trying to get some of us to rest or to organize not just our thoughts but our lives in order for us to be equipped to move swiftly in the coming days, months, weeks and years. For some of us God just wants us to take a minute and talk to Him for a while and allow Him to minister into the deep parts of who we are. Whatever the reason that you are circling or in a holding pattern, remember Father Knows BEST!
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