One of my favorite quotations recently is: “Until God opens the next door for you, praise Him in the hallway.” (There are many versions and photo memes of this all around Facebook and the Internet in general, including my own.)

Sometimes it seems like the hallway is my permanent residence. Waiting, hoping, praying, longing, and waiting some more. But then I wonder what I’m waiting for. I’m where He wants me, and He wants (and deserves) my praise from that location, in this moment.

He may have me in the hallway so that I can cheer others on as they enter their chosen or assigned doorways.

He may have me in the hallway so that I can cry with those who exit a doorway in grief or loss or realize that the door they’ve been pounding on and trying to break down held heartaches that they could have or should have avoided.

He may have me in the hallway so that I can stand beside others who are waiting, hoping, praying, and longing. He may want me to be there, with a heart of firsthand understanding, to pray with them, listen to them, and point them to the unchanging, unshakable truths in His Word.

He may have me in the hallway…until.

Or…

He may have me in the hallway. Period.

Either way, for as long as I am there, I will praise Him.

“I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live” (Psalm 146:2, NIV).