Holy Waiting
Dana Seiler, Pinnacle Associate
Should we re-open? How will we re-open? Will we be able to keep our church members safe when we re-open?
These are all questions we, as pastors and church leaders, are wrestling with. There are so many unknowns when it comes to reopening our church doors, and our church members are very divided on this topic as well. Most churches have a broad spectrum of opinion regarding reopening the church building.
Some church members may feel as if it’s time to resume normal life, to swing open those church doors and usher in those who are ready to fill the pews again. While others, are on the complete other side of the spectrum and are waiting until a vaccine has been given to 99.9% of our population. Only then, will they feel safe to return to church. Then we have the middle roaders, those who are somewhere in between these two perspectives. Those who are waiting just a while longer till their comfort level increases and their apprehensions have subsided a bit.
We, as pastors and church leaders, are finding our church family quite divided on the topic of re-opening the church building in the midst of this pandemic. I have often wondered, quietly to myself, how will we know when it’s safe, and when it’s time to usher in God’s faithful to the church building. How will we know when God is telling us He is ready for His people to return.
What I keep coming back to, is the concept of Holy Waiting. What I keep coming back to is how it’s always best to wait upon the Lord when you don’t have a clear direction. How it’s prudent to take a moment, and wait until you hear God saying, now is the time.
I heard a story once about waiting on God and this concept of Holy Waiting.
It was about a young man who was burned out at his current job. He was ready to move on and make his next career move, but he was anxious about this decision. He was unsettled about moving on to a different career path. So, he went to seek the advice of his pastor.
He told his pastor his situation and then asked the pastor, “How will I know if I should make this career move? How will I know if this is God’s plan and what God wants to do in my life?”
The pastor said, “Why don’t you wait till you get to the corner?”
The young man was quite perplexed by this response, so the pastor held up an envelope and told him that the envelope represented his life. That each corner of the envelope represented a choice that man had made in his life. Each corner represented a choice he made that took him in a new direction.
He said, “For instance, you chose to marry your wife, here is that corner and the new direction it set you in. You all had a baby, here is the corner that represents that choice and how it set you both in a new direction.”
Then the pastor ran his finger across the top of the envelope and he said, “This long side of the envelope represents where you are right now in life. This long stretch, you are somewhere along this edge of the envelope. You are ready to round the corner of the envelope and start a new direction.”
The pastor went on to say, “and you may be ready, but you may not be at the corner yet. And most importantly, God may not be standing at the corner yet either.”
He said…”there is such a thing called Holy Waiting. Holy waiting entails, waiting until you know you are standing at the corner, and that you are rounding the corner hand-in-hand with God. You will know you are at that corner with God, because there will be peace in your heart and mind.”
Right now, our churches, are facing many choices and decisions about re-opening. There exists a broad spectrum of opinion regarding this topic, as we face this time of questioning and uncertainty, as we face this time of wanting to round the corner, but not really knowing if it’s time yet, we pray:
Father God, help us to be patient during this very difficult time of waiting. May we see this time of uncertainty as a spiritual practice of Holy Waiting. We ask that You would help to guide our conversations in this decision making process. May we silence all other voices but Yours. May we know and sense Your will and Your vision for our churches. We pray that You would help us all discern our way, so that we may know when we are standing at the corner with You. Amen.