Have you ever felt stuck? Can you think back to a time when you felt like you were going nowhere fast? Kinda like the movie Groundhog day, on repeat? Do you remember how you felt in that moment or in that season? Frustrated? Anxious? Confused? Impatient? The list is endless.
Well, imagine being 15 again and overjoyed at the thought of going on a certain ride at your dream amusement park. You’ve talked about it with your friends on the way there, you’ve waited in line for umpteen hours and weed through miles of stanchions winding throughout the park, and finally it’s your turn to step aboard, get strapped in, and take off. Just moments’ into the adventure you hear a weird sound, you feel the brakes starting to slow you down and all of a sudden the ride comes to a halt. You are at a complete standstill.
If you’ve ever had the privilege of riding Space Mountain at Disneyland you know exactly what I’m talking about. (It seems like every time I’ve had the opportunity to visit that ride it’s having “issues.”) I wait patiently for my turn, and the one time I’m there it goes on the fritz. UGH!!! It’s like Murphys law is out to get me! Like whoever this Murphy is, he knows my name and number and is doing this just to me. Ok maybe not that extreme but it’s super annoying nonetheless! Am I right?
I remember that distinctly happening to me a while back. The hardest part was, on this particular ride (Space Mountain), part of the draw that appeals to the senses is the whole experience takes place in the dark. So sitting in the pitch black, not knowing when or how the issue will be fixed, and left sitting there waiting and wondering can become quite disturbing. Escape routes are not easy to come by in these scenarios.…b/c it’s dark and there’s no easy way out. So you sit and wait – at a “standstill,” hoping and praying something will happen soon, so you can finish the ride and get in line to do it again… Wink Wink…
Similarly, when life “stands still” it’s easy to question God and wonder what went wrong. Did I not pray enough? Did I miss God? How could I have avoided this? In some instances, unfortunately, things can’t be avoided because we have no control over what life dishes out to us. Scripture tells us in Matthew 5:45, “It rains on the just AND unjust,” meaning bad things happen to everyone. So none of us are exempt from the difficulties of life. In these moments it’s natural to become frustrated with a setback.
However, we must not confuse movement with progress. A lack of movement does not equate a lack of progress. Just because you’re at a “standstill” doesn’t mean you’re not going anywhere. In fact, this could be the defining moment you move from fear to faith, doubt to trust, and victim to victor.
When life stands still we can choose to see it as a gift. If we will lean in, settle down, embrace the silence, and listen for God’s voice, He will speak to us in the secret places of our hearts. Sometimes we need the dark places to block out all the distractions. We can become so overwhelmed with life we may potentially miss out on the life-giver Himself. It’s in these dark, seemingly motionless and unproductive situations that become the very setting where the work needing to be accomplished in us can be completed.
To be honest, when my life is at a standstill I want to push forward and power through, but God says, “Be still and Know that I am God.” (Pslam 46:10) So I rest, sometimes begrudgingly, in the knowledge of who He is and who I’m not. The creator of the universe, the author and perfecter of my faith and God Almighty, a role whose shoes only He can fill.
One thing we can be certain of…when life stands still, we don’t stand alone. Nor do we wait in the dark alone. He is our ever present help in time of need and will never forsake us. We can know without a shadow of a doubt He is our refuge and strength, and an ever present help in time of need! When the time is right, the lights will turn back on and He will see you through, out of the darkness, and into His glorious light, just as He’s been there all along.
How do you choose to see a season or situation as a gift when life is at a stand still?
Rediscovering Resilience 