Now that it’s just about back-to-school season, it might be a good moment to talk about a book that many people receive as graduation gift: Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss. I can absolutely see why it’s a popular choice for people of any age going through a major life change like graduation. It addresses the reader, who is personified in the illustrations by a young person wearing yellow. This character, representing the reader, is setting out on a journey (understood to mean life) and receiving encouragement from the narrator. On the pages, we see the character going through bright, colorful, fantastical landscapes and dark, foreboding ones. Some of the more ominous include a Lurch, a Slump, Alone, and worst of all, the Waiting Place.
In the Waiting Place, the sky in the background is dark, and the page has an eerie, uncanny atmosphere of stillness. Standing or sitting around are dozens of unmoving people, eyes wide and vacant, just waiting…
“Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.
Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.” (Dr. Seuss)
It’s a horrible, discouraging place, one the protagonist must “escape.” We can probably all relate to experiencing times of waiting like this. It often feels like we are stuck there. Here are three ways we can get trapped in the Waiting Place:
Waiting for Real Life.
One of my personal pet peeves is when people talk (particularly to children and young adults) about entering the “real world” or “real life” when they reach 13 years old, or turn 18, or graduate high school, or graduate college, or get a “real job,” or get married, or have kids. As if everything that came before that wasn’t real life. Your experiences are as real and as valuable when you’re two as when you’re 92. When we think we need to wait for “real life” to happen, we risk getting stuck in the Waiting Place. “Real life” is right now.
Waiting for God to Move.
I don’t mean to say that waiting on the Lord is an inherently bad thing; it’s not. Sometimes things are out of our hands but never out of God’s. But I think it can be harmful when we assume waiting on God means doing nothing. God’s plans take precedence over our plans, but that doesn’t mean we don’t make any plans at all. We just put them in their proper place:
“Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.’” (James 4:13-15)
The above verse warns that when we make plans, we need to be aware that God’s plan comes first, and that He can change our plans if He wants. But it doesn’t say we shouldn’t plan at all. In the hypothetical conversation in verse 15, plans are still getting made. If we never set any goals or made any plans, it would be easy to become stagnant and apathetic, not bothering to do anything because it might not work out. If we’re waiting for something to change, sometimes we can take steps to change it ourselves. We can and should take action to move forward, whatever that means, or find God’s purpose for us right where we are.
Waiting for the Next Thing.
Sometimes, we think we know what the next step in our lives should be, but we’re having trouble getting there. Or, we’re not sure what the next step is, but we’re waiting for it to come along. For example, at the start of the pandemic I moved back in with my family to be close to them. A year later, I’m still here. I know that have been extremely blessed to be able to be with them during the pandemic, rather than alone, but now I’m kind of wishing to be somewhere else and not really feeling like this where I should be. It’s my responsibility to take steps to change my situation, but so far my plans haven’t been working out and I’m uncertain where to go from here. I’m getting restless looking for the Next Thing. So, do I choose to think of this time in my life as a Waiting Place, a wasted year? Or do I look for the things that have made this time meaningful? I’ve gotten to spend so much time with my family that I would have missed had I been somewhere else. I’ve gotten to serve at my local church in a new way. God had things for me to do here, just as He would have anywhere else. No time is wasted or empty when it’s filled with the joy and purpose that come from loving God and loving others.
Sometimes things in our lives don’t happen when we think they should, but that doesn’t mean we have to get stuck in the Waiting Place. The Waiting Place is defined by inaction, by dwelling on the waiting. There are two sure ways to escape: 1) start working toward what you’re waiting for and 2) find God’s purpose in where you are right now. As we take steps to change what we can, or once we’ve done so, we can reclaim our time from the Waiting Place by finding fulfillment and contentment in what God has for us right where we are.
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