I was on Central Expressway when it happened the first time. The last time was this past Monday. In each case, a sequence of events unfolded in a familiar pattern. I noticed an area of blur in my vision at the 4 o’clock position of my sight. I then experienced a distinct sensitivity to light. Then the migraine began in earnest. I was just about to join our staff meeting. First, we turned off the lights overhead. Then I obtained my meds. Then I retrieved my darkest sunglasses from the truck. But after 90 minutes, I could no longer read because my vision was distorted. We needed to finish that meeting, so I just kept at it, but I finally realized that my only recourse was to find a very dark room and try to sleep until it subsided. There was nothing I could do except rest and wait.

Do you ever feel like that’s what’s happening in your walk with Christ? We are all such “fixers” that any kind of rest or waiting feels like failure. But it’s not. “Wait on the Lord,” the Psalmist says. It is a time when we are submitting ourselves so much to Him that we cease our striving and depend on him. What I have discovered is wonderful: when we are finally at rest and willing to wait, we can finally SEE again the path He has called us to follow. Nothing qualifies to substitute for that time of waiting and resting in HIS leadership and provision.

Late on Monday afternoon, I woke up in the darkness and realized that the migraine had lifted. My sight was restored, and I was ready to re-engage for the rest of the day. The only action I could take that afternoon was intentional NON-action. And on many occasions in my journey with Christ, the disciplines of resting and waiting are the only recourse. I am stuck and dependent on the leadership of the Lord. Without that, I’m simply thrashing in the water, not truly swimming for a destination. But when that waiting does seem to end, I typically have a similar “re-engagement” experience that has been born from that intentional waiting and resting in Him. I can see clearly what He wants me to do.

Friends, if you feel you are at a spiritual roadblock, don’t despair. Rest. Wait. The Psalmist gives us this encouragement: “I waited patiently upon the Lord and He heard my plea.” I believe He will hear yours, too!