Patience.. Waiting.. Delay..

This post is about as raw and vulnerable as it gets so buckle up for the ride!

Patience.. Waiting.. Delay.. these three words have been a constant challenge I have encountered during this season of my life. Every time I log onto social media it can often seem like all I see is a new and happy post about friends of mine getting engaged, becoming pregnant, and graduating college. When I pictured my life as a little girl it went something like this…

“When I am bigger, I am going to be married by 20 to my high school sweetheart. I will be graduated from college and have a baby on the way.”

The reality is this “perfect picture” I pictured in my life as a little girl ultimately is not what has happened. I was not married at 20, I am no longer in a relationship with that high school sweetheart, I am not graduated from college yet, and I do not have babies on the way. In fact, I am nowhere close to that “perfect picture” and I can often feel defeated about the constant comparison of not having that beautiful engagement ring on my finger, and not being in my last semester of college along with my peers, and constantly feeling as though I am behind in life.

Patience. Patience is SO hard to achieve in today’s age. We live in a culture that conditions us to want everything when we want it at the snap of a finger, but ultimately this is not a possibility. A few years ago, a sweet friend of mine gave me advice about loving and enjoying where you are in life. She told me “I have started realized that I am still in the season and place of life that I am in because there is a reason. There is a specific and individualized lesson that God wants me to learn and I haven’t learned that lesson yet. So, until I learn that lesson, I will continue to be where I am, so I just need to trust and learn to enjoy the place I am in.” This advice my friend gave me is VERY hard to live out. I have been guilty of displaying my social media posts in a way that only shows me “living my best life” but not every single day am I genuinely living out that best life.

Waiting and Delay. Waiting in life is hard, but it is so much harder to do when it is longer than waiting in line at the grocery store or in the drive through line for your order. Delay can feel more like an inconvenience rather than God’s protection plan. Often when praying for something specific when it pertains to the future it can feel as though it is a constant battle of waiting. BUT a verse I tend to reference during this specific type of discouragement is John 13:7 “Jesus replied, you do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” That unconditional loving relationship that you have been craving may not have happened because God is preparing your future spouse while preparing and shaping you at the same time. That dream job that you have been waiting for may have not worked out just yet because God may be molding a new opportunity for you to help shape His kingdom. That answer you’ve been searching for may not have been presented yet because you are meant to trust Him. He could be protecting your heart in ways that you can’t physically see right now.

I say all this to leave you with this final thought. If you are in what is feeling like a constant season of waiting, and delay. If you can often feel as though you are comparing your life to what you see on social media, just know that your time is coming. Just trust the process, He has made everything beautiful and appropriate AND ON TIME. The season that you are in is NOT wasted.

Much love,

Ash