What to Do When You’re Stuck in a Holding Pattern

“God wants so much to be trusted.”

~ David Wilkerson

When a plane is in midair and cannot descend, it circles repeatedly until given permission to land.

We call this a holding pattern.

You are probably in a holding pattern right now with respect to one or more areas of your life—your spiritual life, ministry, business, health, career, or relationships.

I’ve been there many times myself.

I’ve been trapped in transition, in constant motion, circling ground I have seen before, but not making any progress. And I couldn’t see an outcome.

To use a different metaphor, I was in an atomic freefall, tumbling through empty dark space, traveling through a black abyss.

But here’s the good news: I discovered that Jesus is my Pathfinder, shepherding me through the fall, even when I don’t detect His nearness as I plummet.

If you’ve given your heart to the Lord and are walking with Him, your steps are ordered. Every one of them.

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.

He delights in every detail of their lives.

Psalm 37:23, nlt

In this article, I want to share seven insights I discovered during my most turbulent years and how I learned to react while in a holding pattern.

I’m writing down these ideas not only to help you, but to remind myself when I’m stuck in such a pattern again:

• Recognize that you’re not alone. Some years ago, I conducted a survey on my Facebook wall, and 95 percent of those who responded said they were stuck in a holding pattern in some area of their lives. So take comfort. There’s nothing wrong with you.
• Accept the fact that much of life involves waiting. It’s never easy to wait. We must wait on friends, family members, employees, employers, doctors, email responses, phone calls, the DMV, God, etc. Waiting is a huge chunk of life on this side of the veil. Consequently, the virtue that most of us have a love/hate relationship with (meaning we love to hate it!) is patience. Our technological world has addicted us to immediacy, but God seeks to work infinite patience into us. Jesus Christ is patience incarnate. So embrace the wait.
• Use the time for preparation. Paul didn’t begin his apostolic ministry until years after his conversion. Moses spent forty years in the wilderness preparing for forty years of leading God’s people. Jesus spent most of His adult life as a Nazarene artisan before He began His life-changing ministry. Regardless of what you’re waiting for—a career, a business, a new or restored relationship, a ministry, a partnership, a healing—the holding pattern is your time to prepare.
• Refuse to lose hope. Discouragement is normal, and it’s not a sin. Despair is what you want to avoid, because despair means you’ve lost faith and hope, the two ingredients that move God to act on your behalf.
• Don’t let your mind go certain places. When you’re in a holding pattern, your mind can easily go to dark places of worry as well as temptation. Resist worry like the plague. Believe that the Lord knows what He’s doing and will turn your trials into gold.
• Discover the intended lesson. We often get stuck in the weeds and fail to see the big picture that God is seeking to paint in our lives. Poke your head above the clouds and get perspective. Each holding pattern contains a specific lesson for you to learn. Consider before the Lord what that lesson might be. Ask: “What can I learn from this?” This question transforms the holding pattern from a roadblock into a life lesson.
• Stand on the promises of God. Here are some Scriptures that have encouraged me to have faith and hope—and avoid despair—during the holding patterns of life:

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1, esv

We walk by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 5:7, esv

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 11:24, esv

They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31, esv

In hope he [Abraham] believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.

Romans 4:18-21, esv

Consider that when God promised that Abraham and Sarah would have a son, Abraham was seventy-five years old. It wasn’t until Abraham had his one hundredth birthday—twenty-five years later—that the promise came to pass.

Try to imagine a twenty-five-year holding pattern. I suspect that yours and mine are much shorter.

If you will apply the seven principles I’ve described, you’ll eventually land the plane and make it to your destination. And when you look back, you’ll discover that what at first felt like a disheartening setback was a valuable learning experience in disguise.

For more content like this, check out the book, Hang On, Let Go: What to Do When Your Dreams Are Shattered and Life Is Falling Apart.