Trusting God in the waiting place! Life lesson from Dr. Seuss’ book, Oh The Places You’ll Go!
“Everyone is just waiting.” -Dr. Seuss
In the book, Oh The Places You’ll Go, we are taken on the colorful up and down adventures of life. We read about good days and bad days. Good friends and bad friends. Ups and downs. Fun times and times of hard work. It’s the perfect book for really any reader of any age. I was challenged by the section of the book that referred to a waiting place.
THE WAITING PLACE
by Dr. Seuss
“Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.”
This one excerpt challenged me to trust God in the waiting place.
Can we agree that Some days it is so challenging to trust God in the waiting place. When life is at a stand still. When you know there is more but you don’t have the opportunity to move. When your waiting on Him for direction. When life is overwhelming and you want answers. When God is telling you to stop and wait on Him but you just want to make a choice because any choice feels better then the waiting place feels. I challenge you to be patient in the waiting. Wait on God and His direction.
There are many seasons in life that have us in the waiting place. Do any of these sound familiar?
- Waiting for marriage.
- Waiting for a career to start.
- Waiting for that Job promotion.
- Waiting for the difficult season to end.
- Waiting to grow your family.
In the waiting place God is preparing us for the next chapter. He is preparing you to be the best wife/husband. He is preparing you to make a difference in your career. He is preparing you to take on the challenges that come with that job promotion. He is preparing you as a testimony when that friend comes along facing the same storm you are headed out of. He is preparing you to be a loving mom/dad. He is preparing you for the next chapter while you wait. The problem is we get so antsy in the waiting that we find it difficult to step back, breathe and allow God to do all this amazing preparation in us. My question for you is will you allow God to prepare you for all the places he wants to take you?
A year after my stepdad passed away I found myself still grieving. Jessie and I had been dating for a while. I could sense that he was fixing to ask me to marry him but I wasn’t ready. I began to push him away. I was hurting. I loved him but I couldn’t handle the anxiety of losing him too. I needed time to heal. I prayed one night. It’s better if I say, I begged God “please don’t let him ask.” A few years after that prayer when my heart was finally open he did ask. We were talking after his proposal and he shared with me the time he was going to ask a few years earlier. He was going to ask a year after my stepdad passed away. The same time I was begging God not to let him ask. Jessie told me that he had the money for the ring and the proposal planned. Then he felt God say “wait on me.” While he didn’t know why, Jessie still trusted God and waited. When he did finally get to ask my heart was more than ready. God spent those few years healing my heart and preparing it to be able to love without the fear of losing someone I cared so much about. It took Jessie trusting God even when he didn’t understand why God was saying to wait. He trusted God in the waiting and our story is so beautiful because of that trust.
God has so much planned for you. He has so many wonderful places to take you. Trust him. Trust that while your dreams, purpose, that healing your praying for seem so far away God is working to prepare you for the next chapter. Oh the places you will go if you just trust Him in the waiting place.
“But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
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