What If the Delay Is God’s Direction?

In the sermon “Pause,” Dr. GreGory Wendell reminded us that sometimes one of the most spiritual things we can do is simply pause.

We live in a world that rewards quick reactions. Answer the text. Return the call. Make the decision. Fix the problem. Explain yourself. Figure out what happens next. But what if God is asking us to slow down long enough to hear Him?

Dr. GreGory shared the picture of a seed resting beneath the soil. From the outside, it may appear that nothing is happening. Yet that pause can be part of its transformation.

Our lives can be the same way.

Sometimes God is working in us before there is anything visible to show for it. And eventually, what He’s doing on the inside should begin showing up on the outside.

It isn’t enough to say how long we’ve been saved, how much church we’ve attended, or what God did years ago. The question becomes: What is growing in us now?

Does our life show more love? More peace? More patience? More faith? More self-control?

And sometimes that growth requires obedience when God’s direction interrupts our plans.

Dr. GreGory shared how he felt God leading him to go to the water to pray, but other plans kept getting in the way. Restaurants closed. A grocery store was gone. What looked like inconvenience became God’s redirection. When he finally reached the water and prayed, God used him to speak an answer someone else had been praying for.

That is worth remembering this week.

The interruption may not always be the enemy. The delay may not always mean something has gone wrong. The pause may not mean God isn’t moving.

Sometimes we simply need to stop long enough to hear where He is leading. And when worry starts telling us we have to figure everything out right now, we can replace it with the word God gave His people Sunday: It is well.