Thursday, July 01, 2004
holding pattern
i'm not so good at writing these nice reflections. lucky i get enough of them through the mail to share with you. here's one for all of those times we think God's not moving:
In God's tender care
HOLDING PATTERNS
Many times God will allow a painful situation or a painful
circumstance in our life to "swallow us up." This season in our spiritual growth is a holding pattern. We can't move to the left or the right. All we can do is sit, like Jonah sat in the belly of that great fish, so God can have
our undivided attention and speak to us.
God put Jonah in a holding pattern because He needed to speak to his
heart. Jonah was all alone. There were no friends to call, no
colleagues to drop by, no books to read, no food to eat,no interference's, and no interruptions. He had plenty of time to sit, think, meditate, and
pray. When we're deep down in the midst of a difficult situation, God can
talk to us. When He has our undivided attention, He can show us things about
ourselves that we might not otherwise have seen.
A Few Of God's Holding Patterns:
1. When you are sick in your physical body and you have prayed, but
God has not healed you yet, you are in a holding pattern
2. When you are having problems with your
children and you have put them on the altar, but God has not delivered
them yet, you are in a holding pattern.
3. When you have been praying for the conversion of a loved one and
they don't seem to change, you are in a holding pattern.
4. When you are in a broken relationship and you have given it over
to God, but it has not been restored yet, you are in a holding pattern.
5. When the doors slam shut before you can knock on them,
you are in a holding pattern.
When we are deep in the belly of a difficult situation, there are no
interruptions. God has our undivided attention. All we can do is sit,
think, meditate, and pray. We cannot run from God because there are no
mountains that are high enough, valleys that are low enough, rivers that are wide enough, rooms that are dark enough, or places that are hidden enough from Him. We must remember to praise Him while we're waiting and remember three things:
1. The pattern has a purpose.
2. The pattern has a plan.
3. The pattern has a process.
So stop struggling and start listening, praying and trusting. He'll
keep you right where you are until you can clearly hear Him say, "I love
you."
thank you, Lord!
In God's tender care
HOLDING PATTERNS
Many times God will allow a painful situation or a painful
circumstance in our life to "swallow us up." This season in our spiritual growth is a holding pattern. We can't move to the left or the right. All we can do is sit, like Jonah sat in the belly of that great fish, so God can have
our undivided attention and speak to us.
God put Jonah in a holding pattern because He needed to speak to his
heart. Jonah was all alone. There were no friends to call, no
colleagues to drop by, no books to read, no food to eat,no interference's, and no interruptions. He had plenty of time to sit, think, meditate, and
pray. When we're deep down in the midst of a difficult situation, God can
talk to us. When He has our undivided attention, He can show us things about
ourselves that we might not otherwise have seen.
A Few Of God's Holding Patterns:
1. When you are sick in your physical body and you have prayed, but
God has not healed you yet, you are in a holding pattern
2. When you are having problems with your
children and you have put them on the altar, but God has not delivered
them yet, you are in a holding pattern.
3. When you have been praying for the conversion of a loved one and
they don't seem to change, you are in a holding pattern.
4. When you are in a broken relationship and you have given it over
to God, but it has not been restored yet, you are in a holding pattern.
5. When the doors slam shut before you can knock on them,
you are in a holding pattern.
When we are deep in the belly of a difficult situation, there are no
interruptions. God has our undivided attention. All we can do is sit,
think, meditate, and pray. We cannot run from God because there are no
mountains that are high enough, valleys that are low enough, rivers that are wide enough, rooms that are dark enough, or places that are hidden enough from Him. We must remember to praise Him while we're waiting and remember three things:
1. The pattern has a purpose.
2. The pattern has a plan.
3. The pattern has a process.
So stop struggling and start listening, praying and trusting. He'll
keep you right where you are until you can clearly hear Him say, "I love
you."
thank you, Lord!
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quotable quotes
-
"To try is to risk failure. But risk must be taken because the
greatest hazard of life is to risk nothing. The person who risks
nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing. He may avoid
suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn, feel, change,
grow, live, and love."
~unknown
"It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues."
~ Abraham Lincoln
"live a life that others will remember years from now, NOT because it pointed to you but because of how it pointed to the One who made you."
~ Mark Hart, the Bible Geek
"we grow up learning to become self-reliant, but really we need to be God-reliant"
"we could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box"
"never wound hearts that love u, never give them the endless pain, because wounded hearts are like roses that never bloom"
"there comes a time when we have to stop loving someone not because that person has stopped loving us but because we have found out that they'd be happier if we'd let go"
