The Upside of Downtime (Hard Delays)

Downtime can be hard to endure, but “hard delays” can also have a deeply transformative effect. This happens once you “give up,” in a sense. You’re not giving up on your future, but you’re giving up control of how (and when) you get there.

If you find yourself dealing with a hard delay, don’t hate it. Embrace it. Look for the hidden benefits, the blessings of the in-between when you’re stuck waiting for the fulfillment of a dream, plan, or project.

The Bible has a lot to say about waiting in a self-controlled, patient, wise way. For example, “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty” (Proverbs 21:5). Diligence entails steadiness over time, whereas haste can’t handle the wait. While we all have urges and impulses, God gave us the capacity to control those and to choose a life based on intentionality and wisdom.

If you want to be successful, you need to be able to delay pleasure. You can’t give in to every craving, every temptation, every intrusive thought. Success requires discipline, and discipline means knowing the price you’re paying now is worth the prize at the end.

Ultimately, the ability to wait with grace is a reflection of your faith in God. Do you believe that he knows what you need, when you need it? Or do you think you have to control your own fate? Do you believe your schedule, your dreams, and your needs are secure in his hands? Can you allow his timing to be your timing and his ways to be your ways? If so, delays will be a lot easier, and you’ll get a lot more out of them.

If you are experiencing any hard delays, whether ones you chose in order to pursue a higher goal or ones that were forced upon you, use that tension to propel yourself closer to God. Put your faith in him, deeper than ever, and trust him. Then let him speak to you about this season.

He’s with you every minute of every day, and he wants to help you get the most from it all—even the delays and downtimes.

Lord Jesus, thank you for the reminder that even in the delays, in the waiting, in the in-between, you are faithfully working for my good. Help me to trust as I wait. Amen.