Introduction:
There are many types of holding patterns Aircraft Holding Patterns for landings and takeoffs. The Space Shuttle has a Holding Pattern.Spiritual Holding Patterns:
"Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for 3 days and 3 nights."Many times God will allow a painful situation or a painful circumstance in our life to "swallow us up." This season (time) in our spiritual growth is called a "holding pattern."
We can´t move to the left or the right. All we can do is sit, like Jonah sat in the belly of the great fish. So God can have our undivided attention, so He can speak to us!
God put Jonah in a holding pattern because He needed to speak to his heart. Jonah, was all alone, there were no friends to call, no books to read, no game boys, no cable TV, no interruptions at all.
He had plenty of time to sit, think, meditate, and pray. And when we´re deep down in the middle of a difficult situation, God can talk to us.
When He has our undivided attention, He can show us things about ourselves that we might not other wise have seen.
read Hebrews 12:7
Some examples of God´s Holding Patterns:
- When you are physically sick and you have prayed, but God hasn´t healed you yet. You are in a holding pattern.
- When you are having problems with your children and you have put them on the Altar, but God hasn´t delivered them yet. You are in a holding pattern.
- When you have been praying for the salvation of a loved one and they aren´t saved yet. You are in a holding pattern.
- When you are in a broken relationship and have given it over to God, but it hasn´t been restored yet. You are in a holding pattern.
- When the doors slam shut before you can even knock on them, You are in a holding pattern.
Listen!
When we are deep in the belly of a difficult situation,There are no interruptions.God has our attention; all we can do is sit, think, meditate and pray.
We can´t run from God because:
- Ain´t no mountain high enough
- Ain´t no valley low enough
- Ain´t no river wide enough
- Ain´t no room dark enough for Him.
We have to remember to praise Him while we are waiting and remember these three things:
The pattern has a purpose (devine)The pattern has a plan
The pattern has a process Hebrews 12:11
So, stop struggling and start listening!
He´ll keep you right where you are until you can clearly hear Him say "I Love You"
read 2 Corinthians 4:17"The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor."
"The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything! "Jonah prayed: Jonah 2:1
Here is a positive thought from an unknown author.
If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.If He had a wallet, your picture would be in it.
He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning.
Whenever you want to talk He will listen.
He can live anywhere in the Universe, but He chose your heart.
What about the Christmas Gift He sent you in Bethlehem, not to mention that Friday at Calvary.
Face it, He is crazy about you!
Jonah 1:17 But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
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Jonah 2:1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.
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2. He said: In my distress I called to the Lord,and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
3. You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me.
4. I said, I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.
5. The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God.
7. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.
8. Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.
9. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the Lord.
10. And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
2 Corinthians 4:15 "All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God."
2 Corinthians 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
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18. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Hebrews 12:6 "Because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son."
Hebrews 12:7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
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8. If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
9. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!
10. Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
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12. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees.
13. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
14. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
Last updated on September 15, 2005