Ello folks! Nice to see you all today! Lovely fall weather down here in the south with lows in the twenties and highs in the sixties and it’s just lovely!!! And I actually mean that…lol…
So, today I’ve got a post that I hope will be encouraging…but we’ll see. 😉
I’ve been feeling pretty discouraged lately. As if I’m stuck. Lately, every time I try to move forward it’s been like hitting a brick wall. I have plans, then God closes the door in my face and tells me, “Not what I have for you.”
That’s hard. So hard to accept. All my friends, that are younger than me, are going off to college, dating, getting married right out of high school (okay, so maybe that’s only one person), and here I am…working from home, never been asked out, never even been asked for my number! I can’t drive and when I applied for college they didn’t get back to me in time for me to get the proper paperwork together (I’m a homeschooled foster kid so we have special, extra paperwork we have to get together).
That being said…I’m feeling stuck. Last year I tried to do some ghostwriting work, landed two not-so-well-paying jobs, and then it petered out. I tried to buy a car, but it ended up having something wrong with it. Picked three different college majors only to find out each time that none of them had any job opportunities. Tried to get a literary agent for my book and all I got was rejection letter after rejection letter. You can imagine my frustration. Because every time I try to move forward God closes the door. Which leaves me wondering, why?
Do you ever feel like that? That every step you try to take forward ends up being two steps back? Like you’re clawing your way up the side of a mountain only to slide back down to the bottom? Never able to move forward or reach the summit? So, totally discouraged we come to the end of our rope and look up to say, “What do you want from me, God? Because You won’t let me move.”
And it’s in that moment…that He answers with two simple words.
“Be still.”
A task that feels impossible as everyone around you moves forward with their lives. Full speed ahead, siblings, friends, and even parents moving at a faster rate than you. But you are not them and you never will be. God has called you to a season of stillness. A season where you wait for His guidance. It may seem pointless, it may be irritating, and you probably wish you could just go forward, charge ahead, and finish the plans you have for this season of your life. And yet, God stands before you with His hand out.
“Be still.”
One simple command…and yet so hard to perform. Because what good could come from being still? What good can you do when you’re stuck, so to speak? If you aren’t moving forward in life then what are you doing? What is your purpose?
To live and grow in God right where you’re at. To acknowledge His plans for you and to let go of everything else.
I read Do Hard Things earlier this year with my sisters and was ready to run full speed ahead. I was ready to do hard things, big hard things. But sometimes the hardest thing of all is simply standing still. Waiting on God to give you the green light and say go. Because in that season of waiting we see everyone around us going and we want to be there. Josh is going to college, Shelby got married, Zach just asked Macy to prom, Molly got a new job, David is going to Africa to serve as a missionary and I’m stuck at home, doing nothing.
At least, that’s what you tell yourself, but trust me you are a far cry from doing nothing. You are growing spiritually, you are waiting on the Lord, you are learning patience, and you are helping at home…you are exactly where God wants you to be, learning what He knows you need to know for your future.
Instead of looking at it as being stuck, lagging behind…look at it as a training ground. God is teaching you through this time of stillness. Sure, we can try to break His plan (I did and was met with a brick wall), or we can surrender to His command and be still. We can suck it up and do the hard thing of waiting when all we want to do is run.
You are not your friends or siblings or even your parents, you are you. Your season of life may look different from everyone else’s, and it may not look how you want it to look, but trust me, it is exactly where God wants you to be!
So, the next time something in your life comes to a screeching halt, and you look up to ask God why, when He answers, “Be still,” listen. Slow down, take a deep breath, and submit to being still. Serve where you are in any way you can and wait for your green light, it might take a while…but when you’re ready, it will come. Because God’s in control.
Are you in a season of waiting? Do you find it hard to be still? What are somethings God has taught you in seasons of waiting? I can’t wait to hear from all of you in the comments!
Bless!
Kayti
Sisters Three 
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