Faithfulness in the Hallways

There are many different seasons of life, some that require doors to open, others that require them to close, and many that result in walking through the hallway and waiting for the next door to open. Often times, when we are in the hallway seasons, we can question His faithfulness and we can perceive His stillness as silence. We must come to a place of knowing that He is faithful, when doors open or close, and when we are waiting for those doors to open or close. Our culture makes us believe that we must constantly go from one thing to the next, but sometimes, God puts us in a hallway and tells us to just wait. In those moments, we can feel behind, ignored, and even like the waiting is for nothing. These are lies the enemy will try to feed us in those moments, because if he can convince us our waiting is for nothing, we end up moving when God is telling us to wait.

Psalm 30 was written by David and it's known as "a song at the dedication of the temple." David died before the temple was finished, but God promised that Solomon (David's son) would complete the temple. The entire psalm is a praise out of faith that God would stay true to His promise. David praised God as if it had already happened. What if, in our hallway seasons, we praised Him for the next open door before it even happened? What if, we praised Him for the hallway season that will eventually lead us to the next door? If all we do in the hallway is complain, we miss the beauty of the work being done in us then, and we miss the joy and beauty when the next door is open. Society tells us we must have the next thing figured out, but what if we just sat with Him while He has us in the hallway? If we look at the hallway, the waiting, the unknown as a blessing and opportunity, He will grow, teach, and change us in ways we can't even imagine. We have two options in the hallway: praise Him and believe He's faithful now and will continue to be or be discontent and grow in bitterness.

Praising Him and believing He's faithful in the waiting, in the stillness isn't easy. This requires the belief that everything He does is good and complete surrender of control and your own desires. You will not be able to praise Him in the hallway, if you're focused on you. We often associate stillness or the waiting with Him being unfaithful. We expect Him to move in these grand ways and open these big doors, while He does those things too, often times, it's in the hallway where we see His faithfulness. The hallway seasons prepare us for the doors that are to be opened. What a faithful God to prepare, grow, shape, and change us for what is to come! We must remember, He sees what is to come, we only see what is now. We think we're ready, but He sees further and says not yet. His not yet is one of the greatest acts of faithfulness. He's protecting you and preparing you for what you cannot see. A hallway from God is greater than any desired open door the enemy would gladly lead us through. This is why what we desire must be surrendered to Him and laid at His feet. We must change our posture from expecting our desires to happen to saying and trusting that His will be done.

Don't become so discontent in the hallway that you miss the reason He has you there. We will all go through seasons of stillness, of waiting, of expecting, and it is there that He will meet us and refine us and teach us. With Him, every season, even the hallways have purpose. Instead of complaining where He has you, ask why. Find the reason He's placed you in the season you're in right now and see the blessing, joy, and opportunity in it.