The Place of Becoming

Be still, and know that I am God. ̶  Psalm 46:10

Transformation involves waiting. There is no shortcut around it.

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Some people think of waiting as a waste of time. But something transformational happens when we learn to wait. When the caterpillar spins its cocoon, it is not a place of escape or entrapment. It becomes a sanctuary of change, a place of waiting, a place of becoming. In the dark-spun haven, the caterpillar enters to wait for the transforming rebirth. He will emerge into the world reformed, different. Transformation involves waiting. There is no shortcut around it.

When we are wrapped by pressure and enshrouded in obscurity, waiting can become a safe asylum to hear God and change. When we wait and are still, God comes near (Psalm 46:10). Both the Potter and the whirling of the wheel can be heard, sensed, and experienced in a time of waiting like no other time. A waiting time is a quiet time—a time for few words. Why? Because in silence, we hear with our hearts, not just our ears. Jonah finally heard God when he waited in the cocoon of the whale’s belly for three days. Paul stayed in Arabia for three years after his conversion. Imagine three whole years of silence! When we move quickly, sometimes we allow no time for God to work. We can interrupt God’s design for us when we move too quickly. Something happens when we wait that cannot happen when we move fast in life. 

Waiting at its best loses the unimportant and seizes the eternally significant. Waiting is a necessary step for spiritual maturity. The wings of butterflies and eagles grow while they wait. So do our spiritual wings. We gain strength when we wait.

For Reflection:

• What do you find yourselves waiting for or on at the present time?

• What do times of waiting look and feel like in your life?

• Do you sense an invitation from the Potter to wait, to be still, to spread your wings?