In a Holding Pattern
Your dream may not be dead; it’s just circling the landing strip
The year was 2008. My husband had surprised me with a trip to Boston for our anniversary. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a three-hour flight slowly morphed into an eight-hour trip – because Texas weather. Did I mention that I was also hot, hangry, and huge? In layman’s terms, I was pregnant. It really was the perfect storm.
Although my emotions were swirling around like a good ol’ Texas tornado, I knew the pilot’s job was to keep everyone on the flight safe, and that meant we had to be placed into a holding pattern. To put it simply, we had to rise above the storm and wait it out.
Nobody, and I mean nobody, has time to be placed in a holding pattern. We live in a microwave world. We want everything done quick, quick, and quicker. We want to know what’s happening tomorrow before we are even halfway through today. We want all of our dreams to play out perfectly in a way that we perceive to be best for us – never pausing to ask God what He knows is best. Thankfully God has our past, present, and future in His hands.
In all actuality, holding patterns are not inconveniences. They are merely a brief setback that’s protecting us from the world’s elements – maybe even from ourselves.
From our own impatience.
From our own busyness.
From our own perception.
This past year God gave me the words “Get Ready” as my 2019 mantra. It’s December now, the last month of 2019, and I still don’t have a clue what I am getting ready for. This past year I have felt like a sitting duck. You see, I’m not good in the holding pattern. Over this past year, I have questioned God a hundred times. What am I getting ready for? Is there going to be a new book? Am I going to speak somewhere? Then there were the unforeseen things that changed everything. How could I possibly ‘get ready’ for my mother’s unexpected death or our family’s move?
Sometimes in order for God to work in us and through us, He has to push pause. His pause is for our protection. His protection is for our peace.
By the way, the word that God gave me for 2020 is “Fly”.
Dear Created Woman, God’s bringing me out of this holding pattern. It’s time to soar - hopefully without a whole lot of running and flapping before lift-off.
Reflection
1. Do you have an idea or dream that keeps coming to mind, but you have not been able to act on it yet?
2. Are you frustrated with something that you know God gave you to do, but it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere?
3. Have you asked God for His direction lately? Why or why not? What are you waiting for?
Goals
Take a minute and evaluate your holding pattern. What things are in your control, and what things do you need to rely on God for?
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly on the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bears the yoke in his youth. (Lamentations 3:25-27)
