I’m in a holding pattern. I’m in the waiting room. I’m in a layover season. Have you ever responded with one of those statements or something similar? Yeah, me too. I’ve been asking the Lord about it—again—and remembered something I read from one of my favorite teachers, Bob Sorge. I will have to paraphrase because my books are packed away in a storage unit because… I’m in a layover season. (Insert the eye roll… no, the winking emoji.)
When it feels like we are being confined, imprisoned, and kept away, Song of Solomon 2:6 gives a different perspective. It’s not prison, it’s an embrace. It’s not walls, it’s his everlasting arms. We can accuse God of being distant and indifferent, but it’s never true. Those accusations stem from a misunderstanding inside of us. I have found, and am still learning, these times of confinement are the mercy of the Lord and full of purpose.
Jonah admitted that the big fish was basically a belly of mercy (Jonah 2). Zechariah charged Israel to be prisoners of hope (vs 9:12). Paul and Silas didn’t even blink before they started praising God. And, of course, Joseph mined his enslavement and walked away with this understanding, what was meant for evil, God meant for good (Genesis 5:20).
Isn’t that the invitation before us, regardless of the season? To know God more.
Could it be that it is our resistance that sees God’s embrace as a punishment instead of intimacy?
I used to think it was God’s wrath that got Jonah swallowed up by a whale. I mean, that seems pretty terrifying, not to mention what it must have smelled like. I can’t walk by the seafood counter at the grocery store without gagging. The odor alone would be punishment enough for me. Yet, Jonah’s prayer as he was confined to fish guts was praise and thankfulness.
The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountain…yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. Jonah 2:5-6
If we aren’t careful to remember the Lord in the layover, we will get too focused on circumstances and forget about the ocean outside of God’s embrace that would surely drown us. When repentance was complete, and Jonah’s heart realigned with God’s word, God spoke to the fish, and it spit Jonah out. The whale not only saved him from death, but it also delivered Jonah to where he was supposed to be.
The merciful embrace of God saves us and carries us to where he calls us to go.
It wasn’t God’s wrath that kept his people in the wilderness and in captivity all those years and times. Disobedience has consequences. But in God’s mercy, he kept his covenant with Israel instead of destroying them. Ultimately he sent his only son to free them, to free us. In Zechariah’s prophecy of the coming messiah and salvation, he charges Israel to return to their stronghold and be restored. They were being kept for salvation.
Rejoice greatly O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming…because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double. Zechariah 9:9-13
The merciful embrace of God saves and carries us, and it imparts the hope of salvation into our hearts, soul, mind, and strength.
It has taken me a while to get an understanding of the life of Joseph. And I know I’m still learning! I used to read it with a victim mentality–nothing seemed fair. Maybe it’s because I can relate. He was just a kid excited about his dreams. But every time I read his story, I get it a little more. Maybe it’s because I now have seen enough life to know that the journey from glory to glory has mountain tops and valleys, main streets and alleys, the occasional fast lane, but usually scenic routes. I don’t read about Joseph anymore with a “not fair” perspective. I’ve asked Abba to deliver me from that type mindset, and have made a choice to stay away from it. He’s a good healer.
I can see now that in his mercy, God means for our circumstances (he can use anything) to ready us for what he has called us to do. Sometimes that means we are hidden away during the process. This hiddenness is kind and merciful and, from personal experience, can save us from disasters. I have also learned that when I scream out, it’s too confining, it is usually a tell-tale sign that I’m trying to avoid the work God is doing in me. Instead of hiding from him, I want him to consume me. To lay surrendered at this feet or limp in his embrace until the life I now live is his life in me. His embrace is not a prison. It’s a hiddenness in the life of Christ.
The merciful embrace of God saves and carries us, imparts the hope of glory in us, and hides us until we are ready.
Whether self-imposed or Spirit led, I know layover seasons, waiting rooms, and times of confinement can seem unbearable. But even more, I know the closeness of those seasons are the everlasting arms of God holding us, keeping us, carrying us, giving us hope, and readying us for… well, whatever he has prepared for us. If we can understand that, even in small amounts, we will know that his confinement is hopeful instead of dreadful. If we can be willing instead of resistant, patient instead of demanding, surrendered instead of stubborn, and laid bare instead of protective, we will learn more about Jesus with each step. I think it was Eugene Peterson who wrote about every step is an arrival when walking with God. O, friends! The joy of knowing and getting to know Jesus.
One last example. When hearing the news that Lazarus was sick, Jesus said to his disciples, This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it (John 11:4). Meanwhile, Lazarus dies, and it is four days before Jesus gets to the tomb and calls him back to life. Talk about confinement! But these words from Jesus should bring us great comfort, that God’s Son may be glorified through it. We may die in the process, but it’s only so we can live again in him.
The merciful embrace of God saves and carries us, imparts the hope of glory in us, and hides us until we are ready–until we are dead to ourselves and alive in the life and resurrection of Jesus.
Prayer and Declaration: Jesus! I love your embrace. Thank you for surrounding me like the mountains that surround Jerusalem. Make me ready for everything you have prepared for me. I can only live in you.
Brave Sparrow 
Wow, this is a powerful message. Challenged AND encouraged. 🙂 thank you for this, Adrienne
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