Weary of Waiting: Finding Peace in God's PlanНамуна

It was supposed to be a quick trip to the lab for a fasting blood test.

I arrived early, filled out the pink paper slip, and settled into the waiting room, confident I’d be sipping coffee within the hour.

But as the minutes ticked by, I noticed something strange. Every time the phlebotomist came out to collect forms, she grabbed them from the top of the basket. And the receptionist? She kept stacking new ones on top.

Which meant as early birds, we just kept sinking lower in the pile. Others who’d arrived much later were seen first.

And there I sat. Frustrated. Hungry. Powerless. Watching my day slip away.

That lab waiting room reminded me of other seasons in life. Times when I did everything “right,” showed up early, followed God’s lead, and still found myself waiting while others seemed to move ahead.

Someone else got the opportunity. The breakthrough. The recognition. The fruit I’d prayed for.

This feeling of being behind touches every part of us: our work, our relationships, even our spiritual life. It doesn’t matter how faithful we’ve been or how diligently we’ve shown up. Sometimes the waiting is long. And quiet. And heavy.

Sarah knew something about that.

She was the wife of Abraham, a woman chosen to become the mother of a great nation. God had promised her a child, a future, a legacy. But the years passed, her body aged, and her arms remained empty. Everyone around her seemed to be moving forward, bearing children and building lives, while she sat in a story that felt unfinished.

By the time she took matters into her own hands with Hagar, she wasn’t just disappointed. She was desperate.

We often feel that same ache. And when we do, it’s easy to assume something is wrong. That we need to hustle our way out of it. Make something happen. Fix it. Catch up.

But what if the ache isn’t an enemy?

What if it’s an invitation?

Because behind that low hum of urgency in your chest, behind the knot in your stomach when you see someone else succeed, behind the quiet question, “Why not me…”

There might be something God wants to show you.

Today, we begin the first step in our five-part journey toward peace in God's plan. And this is a step we can take again and again, whenever the anxious urgency returns.

The first step is to: Recognize.

Recognize the ache. Notice the tension. Name the feeling.

Not to shame yourself, and not to fix it right away. But to be honest with God and with yourself about what’s rising to the surface.

Because often, these uncomfortable emotions reveal a sacred gap. That space between what we say we believe about God and how we react when life doesn’t go the way we expected.

You know the one I mean…

When we say God’s timing is perfect, but our hearts race because it doesn’t match ours. When we say we trust him, but panic when the numbers don’t add up, or the doors don’t open, or the answers don’t come.

Don’t misunderstand. This gap isn’t proof of failure. It’s evidence of our longing, and longing can be a doorway to deeper grace.

The good news is that God’s grace doesn’t wait for us to get caught up. It meets us right here, in the uncomfortable middle between where we are and where we wish we could be.

So if you feel that today, if your body is buzzing with urgency or your heart is heavy with discouragement, pause.

Recognize the ache. And invite grace into it.

God hasn’t passed you by. You’re not behind. You are right on time for the grace he wants to give you now.

Prayer: Lord, when the ache rises up, help me pause instead of push. Show me where you are working beneath the surface of my striving.

Today, you courageously named the ache. Tomorrow you’ll discover what comes next as you move closer to God and peace in His plan.

If you’d like to jumpstart your journey towards finding peace in God’s plan, you can download a complimentary copy of Turning Tension to Trust.