Finding Delight in God’s Delays

A month had come and gone. At its start, I had clear plans in mind. “These are the days I finally achieve those goals and accomplish those tasks,” I thought.

Yet, day by day, frustration wound me up and busyness kept me from those very things. Last-minute meetings and abnormally long days consumed every ounce of energy and every possibility of “free time” I hoped for. Other commitments postponed the things I intended to accomplish. My goals soon felt unreasonable and every delay seemed unfair. When would I finally get to work on the things I wanted to do? And the things God called me to?

Friend, how often do we quote verses like Romans 8:28 – that God works all things together for good – and then we doubt God because His timing doesn’t look like what we wanted?

I’m guilty of this. 

Now I’ve chosen to delight in God’s delays. His timing shows us His kindness, even if we don’t agree as we walk through it.

Maybe we just need to see things differently:

• If God’s giving you more time in a season than you expected, maybe He’s graciously giving you more time to experience healing and find freedom.

• If you can’t understand the details and keep asking “why” or “how”, maybe God is trying to show you that He is all you need for clarity. You don’t need the answers to find peace. You just need more of Him.

• Maybe God is providing for you in a way you didn’t expect, but He knows you need. It may not make sense now, but soon, it will.

• Maybe God is redirecting you to a much better outcome than you can imagine, but first, He needs to prepare you. This time is the training ground.

Once we see it, friend, we can know God is trustworthy. We can see God doing what’s best for us out of His unconditional love. We can say with confidence that we wait for the Lord, and we know He’s renewing our strength (Isaiah 40:31). We can see that it’s God who works in us, so we become willing and able to obey Him (Philippians 2:13). Even if it’s painful or frustrating, God will use it for our good.

For me, this looks like believing the extra responsibilities at work are preparing me for greater leadership roles to come. It looks like intentionally creating margin for rest, while balancing multiple commitments. It looks like allowing God to use the not-so-glamorous parts of my story to give others wisdom and compassion in their walks. And, quite possibly best of all, it looks like trusting God to lead me as I step into something new. I may not have tackled every to-do on my agenda, but I can say that God has been with me through every task.

That month had some really sweet answered prayers. Now that I see it, I’m nothing but grateful. Even when the waiting felt hard, God always knew His delays were the best way.