God once told me I would be living off my writing, just like I’d always dreamed.
The problem?
He told me that more than five years before it actually came to fruition.
If you’ve ever felt called to something and then wondered why nothing seems to be moving, this story is for you.
The Waiting Season
I learned something valuable during that waiting season.
I had buckled down and done the hard work. I already knew that when God calls you, nothing can stop His plans, but I also knew I had to move too. So I started writing. I built a website. I asked God what to write and what to do. I researched marketing and strategies to get noticed.
And I kept praying in frustration,
“I’m trying so hard to do what you’ve called me to do, but it’s not working.”
One quiet morning, sitting with my journal and coffee by an open window, God answered.
He said,
“I told you that you would write. I did not tell you it would be right now. You’re frustrated because this season is one for rest, not work. You won’t lose what I will give you if you take time to rest. It will come when I have prepared it for you.”
Mind. Blown.
Right Work, Wrong Season
You can be doing all the right things, in the wrong season, and get nowhere.
I haven’t changed a single thing about what I do now compared to what I was doing then. God is still at the center. The effort is still there. The heart is still the same. And yet now I have reach. I have results. I have fruit that shows what I’m working for.
Timing changes everything.
When we forget God’s timing, we often mistake delay for failure.
Learning from David
Remember David?
He was told he would be king. He was promised the palace.
And the very next thing he did?
He went back to the fields to tend his sheep.
David returned to the last thing God told him to do, and he stayed in God’s presence there.
Sometimes faith looks less like forward motion and more like faithful obedience in quiet places.
What Changed in Me
So what’s different about me now compared to five years ago?
I learned a lot. I went through seasons of deep change. You all know my story of trauma and people-pleasing. I had to grow as a writer. I had to learn how to rewrite myself out of people-pleasing, or I may never have written any of these words for fear of other people’s opinions.
I had to learn how to hear from God. I had to know, without a shadow of doubt, that loving Him was my own choice, not something shaped by anyone else’s influence.
All of this was part of the waiting season before I finally reached this place where He said,
“Now it’s time. Write.”
When Things Aren’t Working
Sometimes things aren’t working, not because you’re doing anything wrong, but because you’re not in His timing yet.
That’s why our relationship with God matters so much. Without being able to bring Him my frustration and hear His answer clearly, I would have burned out. I would have kept pushing, kept striving, and never understood why nothing was moving.
Instead, our relationship was strong enough that I could receive instruction and actually follow it.
A Word for You
Why am I telling you this?
Because someone reading this is doing the same thing right now. You’re confused. You’re exhausted. You’re pushing through what feels like a brick wall.
Maybe today, instead of pushing harder, you’ll sit in Papa’s presence and ask what’s really going on.
He loves to talk to us.
And He’ll be happy to tell you.
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