Waiting..

I met a woman in Atlanta yesterday who couldn’t find her cane. She sat in the front row as the herd of passengers hurried to exit the aircraft with a posture of patience. “Can I help you?” I asked her. She smiled gratefully and explained that she couldn’t find her cane that she needed to help her walk. I searched the overhead bins and the closets without any luck. I felt awful in returning to her empty handed.

“I can help you walk off to a wheelchair but I don’t know what you will do the rest of the day without a cane,” I told her. She smiled cheerfully and shrugged her shoulders saying, “Oh well!” and then grabbed my arm to accept my assistance. She was on her way to Philadelphia – a city named after a tribe that I have studied deeply. And in pondering this encounter that seemed to linger with me over the next two days, I could hear the small voice within speaking to me about the meaning of this encounter in how it relates to my own walk at the moment.

Perhaps all of us have a cane we lean on – a crutch that we think we need in order to move forward from the ship we are ready to exit. I know I often catch myself making excuses to stay stuck in situations. Even when a door opens before me, I often can’t see it because I’m too busy looking behind me, beside me or down at the floor wondering if my feet my fail me should I have the courage to take a leap of faith forward. Maybe you have a cane too? Whether it’s a place, an object or even a person that you’ve lost along your journey, are you able to move forward without it/them and seek the destination alone – believing that you won’t fall?

I have watched others crossing over into doors I thought were meant for me and I’ve patiently waited for my turn to walk through. Perhaps the lesson in this for me is to remember to sit patiently until my name is called and to know that all I have lost along the way isn’t needed in the chapter ahead. I must simply wait.. be humble.. and be ready to take the hand that greets me and walk in faith knowing that God has preserved me for a time such as this.

³¹ “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” – Isaiah 40:31.