WAITING

I always figure ten minutes early or I am late.  Today I was really early.  An hour early!  So, as I write this, I am waiting.  Not enough time to go anywhere and too much time for quietly waiting to be fun. 

But it is not quiet.  I hear people’s footsteps.  And voices.  I hear the sound of doors opening.  And closing.  The most noise is the furnace fans.  A fan big enough to move the air through a big building.  I appreciate being warm, but it is an annoying sound.  Constant.  Intrusive.

The building, like me, seems to be waiting.  Waiting to do what it is designed for.  Waiting to fulfill its purpose.

Am I doing what I am designed for?  How do I know what I am to do?  Am I on the right track?  Am I…?  Am I…?  Where do I find the answer to my questions?

Sometimes it is easy.  Life just feels right.  I know inside – at the core of my being – I am fulfilling my purpose.

Sometimes it is just the opposite.  My core – my conscious, my spirit – lets me know I am not fulfilling my purpose. I know I am not on the right track.

Then there are those other times – most of the time – when I just am not sure.  Life does not feel right, but it does not seem wrong either.  It is a time of “getting through.”  And I ask, “God, what am I supposed to be doing?  What is my purpose?  Am I doing what you designed me for?”

Those are the times when I need to shut out the constant, intrusive sounds.  Shut out the sound of doors and voices and shoes hitting the floor.  Those are the times when I need to quietly wait.  Wait until I receive direction.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11

So I quietly wait until my inner core – my Holy Spirit – gives me the calm that comes from the one who created me.  The calm that comes when I am fulfilling the plans the Lord has for me.

For, you see, life is meant for so much more than just “getting through.”  The Lord has plans for each of us.  Plans that will prosper and not harm.  Plans that will give hope and a future.  That sure beats just getting through!