the waiting place

I thought I was alone in the dark, lost. It was cold and lonely there, in that waiting place. No matter how much I craned my neck--no matter how hard I squinted my eyes against the dark--I simply couldn't see God.

Like Job, I wanted to say, "My days fly faster than a weaver's shuttle. They end without hope." (Job 7:6)

It's easy to feel alone in the dark, especially when it feels like that darkness is around you because you're stuck down deep in a hole.No matter which direction you turn, there just doesn't seem to be a way out. And sometimes, it seems like the harder you fight to get out of that hole, the deeper you get. It's almost like quicksand, sucking you in faster the more you struggle against it.

The thing is, I was reminded in a blog post from Ann Voskamp that the dark waiting place isn't unusual. In fact,it could even be called an integral part of faith:

~Moses's mom waited for her baby to be pulled from the river.

~Noah and his family waited for the the waters to retreat back to their limits.

~Abraham and Sarah waited until old age for a promised son.

~Simeon and Ana waited for the birth of the Messiah.

~Mary and Martha waited for Jesus to come heal their brother, Lazarus.

~Joseph waited in an Egyptian dungeon for years.

~Daniel waited in the lions' den.

~Paul and numerous disciples spent time waiting in prison.

Maybe the biggest story of waiting can be seen in Jesus Himself. Throughout His ministry, He told His disciples on multiple occasions that He would have to die. Essentially that means He spent His entire ministry waiting for what He knew was coming--His death. We see the culmination of His earthly waiting that night in the garden. The waiting was so hard that night, so agonizing, that He sweated blood. His waiting ended in an excruciating death on the cross.

Even that wasn't the end of His waiting, though. Following His death, Christ waited in death for three days before rising from the dead to sit at His Father's right hand on the throne of Heaven.

All of us are waiting for the Kingdom of God to be established here on earth. All of creation is waiting for the moment when order will be restored, when the created will all praise the Creator.

So when you're waiting in the dark, know that you aren't alone no matter how it feels. Waiting is part of this crazy, beautiful thing we call life, and it's a huge part of faith.  

Eventually the waiting will end, and God will be right there.

Waiting for you, just like He was all along.