There are seasons of life that feel like they’re moving slower than expected. I’ve often felt stuck, but I realize now that it wasn’t being stuck. It wasn’t stillness. It was slow, a slowness that I didn’t imagine.
I had an idea in my head of how things will go, where I’ll be, what I’ll be doing, and what my life will look like at this point. But when I look around, I realize that it doesn’t quite match. It’s not bad, just different. And definitely harder than I expected. It’s frustrating to look at different areas of my life and see things taking longer than they should. Like milestones unreached. Prayers that haven’t been answered yet. Hopes that are still hopes.
We live in a world that moves fast. You don’t need to live in a city to feel the speed. So many things are instant, rushed, or on-demand. I was immediately annoyed at the slow Internet speed yesterday. I felt so inconvenienced because a webpage took more than five seconds to load. I thought, “Well, I can’t do my work then!” I had forgotten what dial-up Internet felt like, or the thrill of receiving an Internet connection in the mail (snail mail). Fast is the norm today.
So when my life doesn’t seem to be moving at the same pace, it’s easy to start asking questions like, “Am I doing something wrong? Did I miss something? Am I behind?” I can feel an invisible clock ticking and the panic rising.
I joined a Christian women’s singles group online and those wonderful, encouraging ladies help me remember that God isn’t in a hurry the way we are. His timing is different from ours. His is more purposeful and it’s perfect.
Psalm 27:13-14 says, “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
I keep those verses written on a sticky note beside my bed. It’s a declaration of faith and a rally cry that reminds me that waiting isn’t just about time passing. It’s about what’s happening in us while we wait. Waiting isn’t passive and void. The season of waiting or slowness is a time when God is doing some of His deepest work in us.
It is in the waiting, in the slowness, that God shapes our character. He refines our desires. He teaches us to trust Him, especially when things are moving so slow they seem to have stood still. That kind of faith is harder. It’s easier to trust God when doors are opening and prayers are being answered quickly. Faith is harder when things feel delayed.
Maybe that’s where real faith grows. Not in the big, obvious moments, but in the quiet, in-between spaces where we choose to keep trusting. It reminds me of David in the Bible. We all know about his big battle with Goliath, but it was when he was a shepherd left alone that his faith grew.
I’m still learning to wait well. Slowness still gets under my nerves. But I’m holding onto the faith that God is working in ways I can’t see yet. He’s not absent in the slowness. I’m not behind. I haven’t missed anything. I’m simply on God’s timeline that is too wonderful for me to comprehend.
Again, that’s easier said than done. If your life feels slower than you expected, know that you are not alone. God is with you, of course, but so am I. So are a lot of people. Many are waiting, trusting God in the slowness and in hopes deferred. Let us allow God to shape us in this time, mold something deeper in us. Something that wouldn’t grow any other way. Let’s trust Him together.