This week. I shared with you a blog my son, Cole, wrote about Advent, called “Holding Pattern” (click here to read) . He shared that oftentimes airplanes get placed in a holding pattern of waiting, but they don’t just sit and wait, but rather are preparing. Advent is the waiting for the arrival of Jesus our Savior to come again. And in the meantime, it is vital that we are making ourselves ready.
The Bible describes this meeting as a wedding, and that we are Jesus’ bride who is making herself ready. So, while we are in a “holding pattern” of waiting, we are to still be about growing into Christlikeness.
That brings me to another aspect of an airplane’s holding pattern that I also think is so significant and a continuance of what Cole shared. Wikipedia describes a holding pattern as a maneuver designed to delay an aircraft already in flight while keeping it within a specified airspace. This is what I wanted to share with you today.
When we find ourselves waiting, we often look for ways to keep from waiting. We seek a quicker way out, that often means getting off the original path planned for us. We don’t stay within our “specified airspace“. This mentality has been going on since Adam and Eve. The truth is, there IS a path…a very specific path, that God created just for you, when He made you. (Ephesians 2:10) If you don’t believe me, there are verses peppered throughout the Bible that prove it.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Niall your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your PATH.” Proverbs 3:5-6
“He leads me in the PATH of righteousness for His name sake.” Psalm 23.
Jesus said, “I am the Way”.
There definitely is a PATH depicted all over the Bible, that I describe as
RESCUE, RESTORE, REDEMPTION, REALIZATION
First of all, when you recognize your sin that separates you from God (who is the only One who knows the path He uniquely made for you) and your inability to pay the price, you ask Jesus, the One who did pay the price, to rescue you. This is like when the children of Israel were rescued out of bondage to Egypt.
Then, you begin the process of restoration, getting Egypt out of you! When you live in a place so long, you take on its likeness. You think like Egypt. You act like Egypt. We must be delivered and restored to the original way that God created us to be.
As you begin to get rid of the old self and take on the heart and life of Jesus, He begins to redeem your past. Out of all that pain comes passion to help others. Your greatest misery can become your greatest ministry.
And before long, you are realizing the very reason you were created, and you find yourself truly happy, fulfilled, and free! It’s the best path to be on, because it’s the path you were MADE to be on! It’s your “specified airspace“.
So here is what I beg each of us to do today: look at the path, and ask yourself these questions: in the waiting for Jesus to show up in your mess, fix what is broken, or return to get you, did you take matters into your own hands and now find yourself off the path?
Did you just get saved and have never stepped into the deeper waters of moving down the path toward deep, lasting fulfillment?
Today, you can begin the path for the first time, or again. If you have never asked Christ to be the Savior and Boss of your life, you can simply ask Him right now. Or if you are saved, but never got on the path, or have gotten stuck on the path, or found yourself off the path completely, you can simply confess that to Him today and surrender to His leading your life, helping you fulfill the purposes for which He made you.
Even while you wait, you don’t have to get off course. The waiting has a purpose: to get you down a very intentional PATH. May you be encouraged to “keep within your specified airspace” and not get off course, when God’s timing and your’s do not align.
You are loved, Jena