What if this season of your life is meant to be a season of waiting?
Written last February 2020
Last year, I had a prayer, and it was one that has been bothering for me a couple of months. Most of my time during those moments was not a season of victories. The book signing event, oath-taking, and opportunities to minister were hills and mountains. When I fell down in the valley, there were days I couldn’t go to church because my mental health has taken a hit. Valleys are dark and rough, to the point of almost succumbing to its emptiness. But, when not winning or backsliding, I was on the plateau. There was just… Nothing.
In the Christian life, not much is mentioned in plateaus. I see it as part of our walk with God. I’m not in the mountains, my life was not an all-time high. I’m also not in the valley. My depression and self-doubts haven’t forced me to give up yet. I was just waiting.
Waiting for what?
I was waiting for the next step.
I’m waiting for God’s call.
And it was hard waiting in the plateau.
Our walk with God has been filled with hills and valleys so much we tend to forget the plateaus and plains are waiting for us. And in those seasons of waiting, there can also be a sense of idleness.
“What am I here for?”
“God, what is the next step?”
“Where do I go next?”
Most people view plateaus as a negative thing in the Christian walk. They say, “You always have to go up! No backsliding, no stagnant walks, just keep going up!” And I agree, you have to strive to praise God and be joyful, and never let that fire in your heart go out. But what if this season in your life is meant to be a plateau? You stay wandering, waiting for what the Lord wants to tell you.
Plateaus aren’t all bad. Like the valleys, we can pick up some lessons while we’re waiting too.
1. Plateaus can help us persevere.
Going up the mountain is no easy task. A lot of endurance and discipline is required to do that. Crashing into the valleys is also difficult. The slumber trips due to the rocks in the valley will make us want to give up. But mountains and valleys are familiar to us. What gives us unease in the plateau is the season of waiting. Not just waiting for an answered prayer, but waiting for the next step. In the middle of what our eyes seem like nothingness, in the middle of wanting to stop because of the lack of events, the more we have to push ourselves and strive to be disciplined.
2. Plateaus can help us pray for the next step.
Reaching for the hills can force us to focus on the journey. Running from the valley will cause us to search for rescue. Plateaus can help us focus on God’s voice. In wandering, there is the struggle of knowing exactly what to look for. There is the difficulty in asking yourself, “Where do I go next?” “What does God want me to do?” And once we have heard His voice and what the next step is, we stop. We tend not to take the next step yet. This is because…
3. Plateaus can help us hear God’s leading.
I remember this conversation I had with a friend. We mentioned when trying to go to the mountains, you cling on to the commission God has given you. We cling to the goal we have to accomplish. We cling to the reward we’ll receive at the end. There is always something to look forward to at the mountainside, and it is to see how far we have come by the grace of God. In the valleys, we also know what we’re looking for. We look for the light, for the rescue. We search for someone, anyone, to see us. We pray desperately for God to rescue us. We cling to hope despite the despair. We seek the light despite the darkness. We long for the company despite the misery. It was clear what we were looking for in the hills and valleys. But in the plateau, everything is plain (no pun intended). After sensing this is what God wants us to do, we don’t go straight up or down, we tend to linger. We ask ourselves, is this God’s will? Is this God’s leading? Is this what I should do? It’s scary, there’s no sure sign, and we doubt ourselves more often.
But the plateau is still beautiful. We get to see what we were able to accomplish, and the possibilities where God can lead us next. There’s a little bit of rest, but remember, never to stay too long in any place. Because in whatever season, whatever circumstance, God is with us. Each moment is an opportunity for Him to mold us, to break us, and to change us to be more like Him.
In the mountains, I glorified Him for my successes.
In the valleys, I searched for Him in the darkness.
And in the plateaus, I wait for Him for the next step.
