I love words like enchanted and endearing. I love the phrase “I see you.” It is why I am hopelessly in love with movies like “Pride and Prejudice,” “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium” and “This Beautiful Fantastic.” And why when I hear phrases out of songs like “So Will I” by Hillsong, true poetry set to music, I cannot keep from weeping every time no matter how many times I hear it.
And I love books. All kinds. Simple books. And for years one of my favorites was Dr. Suess’ “Oh the Places You’ll Go.” I read it to my boys and to elementary classes when I was subbing so many times that I have most of it memorized and I can read with so much passion and animation. I would love to read it to you, as it does share so much truth about life.
But one day I was reading that book and a phrase punched me in the gut. Not because it was so beautiful and so true to life, but because one word made it contrary to Scripture. Here’s the page … See if you can find it:
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 across weirdish, wild space, headed I fear, toward a much useless place, the Waiting Place … for people just waiting …
Did you see it? The word “useless” describing the “Waiting Place.”
We live in such a microwave society, wanting everything now. RIGHT NOW. The job, the spouse, the education, the house, the child, the raise, the car, the vacation, the promotion … you name it. Society says if it isn’t now or if you have to wait, it’s perceived as a negative — sometimes even shameful. And that’s just not true.
In life, in our spiritual walk, David did not see waiting as a negative. On the contrary, David writes many Psalms like this, “Rest in the Lord, wait patiently for Him …” (37:7) or “… for you I wait all the day … “ (25:5). He even says it twice in 27:14, “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage and he will strengthen your heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”
James 5 discusses waiting on the Lord as the farmer waits for the soil and the crop.
Luke 12 urges a readiness in waiting for the coming of Christ.
In I Corinthians, Paul talks of an eager waiting in regards to the revelation of the Lord.
Titus and Galatians share that we wait in HOPE.
There is so much written in scripture about waiting that it’s too much to list.
And not one place that I have found does it describe our waiting as “useless” or idle or negative.
Why is our waiting not useless? Because we have hope. Hope in Jesus.
Why is our waiting useFUL? Because we wait on God and his perfect plan, his perfect timing, his great purpose. In the waiting, we find salvation, deliverance, answers, direction, grace and even mercy. And in the waiting our faith GROWS. We mature. We become stronger.
Because in case no one has told you, life is hard. It is sinful. Bad things are going to happen. And we need to develop spiritual muscle to withstand the storms and be successful. So the world can witness in real life that we have a hope greater than the sorrow of this world. We have a God the is more good than all the bad. That HE is our light, our strength and our salvation.
I’m working on a re-write my own version of that book about the waiting place and what we should do there. Because I think as hard as it is, it’s a beautiful place to be.
God has purpose and usefulness for your Waiting Place.
Wait for it … it’s going to be good!
Just Amy 