There are seasons when you’ve prayed all you know to pray. You’ve laid it before the Lord, waited, listened—and still, Heaven feels quiet. No new direction, no open doors, no “aha” moment. Just stillness.
It’s in those in-between places—what I call “the hallway”—that faith starts to feel a little stretched. You can see the doors, you just don’t know which one will open. And sometimes, that waiting room gets long and lonely.
I’ve learned (and am still learning) that it’s better to wait in the hallway than to barge through a door God hasn’t opened. Because when we do, we risk birthing something He never intended.
Think about Abraham and Sarah. God promised them a son, but when the waiting got long, they tried to make the promise happen their own way. Sarah urged Abraham to take Hagar, and that union brought Ishmael into the world—a child born of human impatience, not divine timing (Genesis 16). Ishmael wasn’t God’s “no,” but he also wasn’t God’s “now.” How many times have we done the same thing—forcing something that wasn’t ready, just because silence felt unbearable?
But here’s what I’ve learned: while you wait, keep doing what’s set before you.
Keep showing up to your everyday life. Keep reading the Word. Keep worshiping. Keep praying. Keep walking in obedience in the season you’re already in. God’s silence isn’t absence—it’s preparation. And if you’ll stay faithful in the hallway, you’ll be ready when the right door opens.
Isaiah 40:31 says:
“But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.” (NLT)
That word new catches my attention every time. It’s not recycled strength or borrowed courage—it’s new. Fresh, like morning manna. Strength that didn’t exist until the waiting pressed it out of you.
And then there’s that eagle imagery—beautiful and deliberate. Eagles don’t flap like smaller birds; they soar. They catch the updraft of the storm and rise above it. The very wind that others fight against is what lifts them higher. That’s what happens when we wait on the Lord—He renews, refines, and raises us above what could have worn us out.
So, what do you do while you’re in the hallway?
You wait well. You stay faithful. You do your best at what’s in front of you, trusting that God is working behind the scenes. And when the right door opens, you’ll walk through it not tired, but stronger than you’ve ever been—carrying new strength for what’s ahead.