This may seem like a strange question to ask. However, with what I have experienced in my walk with God, I think it’s actually a good question.

God seems to have a habit of showing up at the bottom of the ninth (inning, to those of you not familiar with baseball terminology). He seems to have a habit of allowing his children to be in a holding pattern (think football). Right when you think your team is going to win by a landslide, the other team not only scores, but passes you in points!

Let me take a moment to try to explain God. I say try, because what human can really and truly understand God? His power, His might, His strength, His intelligence, His ability, His authority- all of it is limitless. We could put our human with the highest IQ up “against” God and our contender will look like he/she has the lowest IQ. We could take our strongest human and put him in an athletic competition with God and he/she would fall like Goliath. I just don’t think that any human will ever truly, 100% know God. He’s just too much- in a very good way, of course. Honestly- I don’t know about you, but I don’t think my brain could even hold all the information “files” about who God is. My computer (brain) would crash.

God is a loving Father. He is the Creator, the Alpha, the Omega, the great I Am. He is Yahweh, El Shaddai, Jehovah. He is also called by more common words (yet very strong words, because of who He is) like Faithful and Jealous.

Anyone who knows me and my family knows that we have been in a holding pattern with God for a few years now. So, what exactly does a holding pattern look like? Great question! I would simply define it as being in a state of “limbo” while waiting patiently (or at least trying to wait patiently) for God to move. Maybe someone is waiting for an answer about a career, or school, or a relationship. Or maybe someone is hoping for a child and month after month their answer appears to be “no”. But what I think most of all defines a holding pattern with God is one word- wait. Sometimes, waiting is good.  Other times, waiting kind of stinks- does the DMV ring any bells?

So, if God has you in a holding pattern where you are to wait, what do you do while you wait? Complain? Cry? Pray? Pretend you aren’t waiting? Well, let me just say, been there, done that, and lying on the floor in the fetal position crying out loud, “Why God?” is about as effective as it is a pretty sight! The Bible says in Psalms 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” As a matter-of-fact, if you did a search of the bible with the word ”wait”, you will have many Scriptures come up about waiting for the Lord, especially many examples about others who had to wait for the Lord.

So, why wait? Why not forge ahead? In our instantaneous society where everyone has their own platform on social media and we can instantly get “likes”, “shares”, and “followers”- why wait? The truth is, we all have free will. We can choose to believe or not to believe in God. We can choose as His children to forge ahead or wait. We can choose to wait patiently or choose to wait in the aforementioned fetal position. (I highly don’t recommend this- yet I’d understand if it happened.) There are blessings when we wait, blessings that don’t come if we forge ahead on our own time schedule. And just to be clear, I’m not talking about the blessings that some people have implied is all about money and/or prosperity. God does bless and prosper people, but blessings and prosperity are not only defined by bank accounts. Please don’t make the mistake of cheapening God to that. God’s timing is perfect. His ways are true and just.

Is it easy waiting? Honestly, sometimes it is, but sometimes it isn’t. Especially when your circumstances don’t “look” like God is at work; they actually might “speak” of exactly the opposite. As if God has abandoned you! Unfortunately, you may even have well-meaning Christians trying to tell you how something must be sinful in your life for God to not work. You may even have Christian leaders not stand with you as you go through this season of waiting for the Lord. You can feel alone, abandoned, rejected, and neglected.

One thing that I have learned while waiting is this- are you looking to man to “fix” this, or are you looking to the One who created man to “fix” it? I think it’s very easy to think too highly of other humans- and yes, I’m well aware of the fact that I am a human too. But we can easily put humans on a pedestal that they shouldn’t be on. We can let them influence us when they shouldn’t be. We can also let their opinion of us carry more weight than what the Almighty God thinks of us. Seriously, God sent his only begotten son Jesus to earth, to die for our sins, all because He loved us that much! Is there any human anywhere on earth that would even think of doing that kind of sacrifice? Not to mention, Jesus willingly chose to be the sacrifice! Absolutely amazing! Perhaps this is where the song title of “Amazing Grace” came from.

So what’s the answer to my previous question of “Why wait?” It’s simple, my God is worth all the time it takes for Him to move when and how He chooses to. As much as I am so beyond ready to be out of this holding pattern, I want God’s appointed and anointed time, and not a moment sooner.

One more thought as to why God just might be a sports fan, God does show up at the bottom of the ninth, He hits a homerun, and He always wins the game!

God is not just a starter, He’s  also a finisher. 🙂