💎 Walking in Purpose | Day 5: When Purpose Requires Patience

A Continued Walk of Grace- Series II

Waiting is one of the hardest parts of walking with God — not because waiting is empty, but because waiting exposes us.

It exposes our fears, our timelines, our need for control, and every part of us that wants God to move now instead of “in His time.”

Purpose sounds exciting until God asks you to wait for it.

There was a season where I truly thought I was ready for everything I was praying for.

I had the desire.

I had the passion.

I had the hope.

And honestly… I thought God should’ve moved faster.

Waiting made me feel stuck.

It made me feel behind.

It made me feel like everyone else was moving forward and I was left standing still.

But then God began teaching me something I never saw coming:

Waiting is not punishment.

Waiting is preparation.

David was anointed long before he ever sat on the throne.

Joseph dreamed long before the dream came alive.

Jesus lived thirty quiet years before stepping into public ministry.

Every waiting season in Scripture had purpose — and so do ours.

The Part I Didn’t Want to Admit…

I’ll never forget laying in bed one night, staring into the dark, feeling like everything around me was at a standstill. I kept praying for movement — not some big breakthrough, just a sign that God was guiding me. I wanted clarity. I wanted direction. I wanted to feel like I wasn’t stuck emotionally and spiritually.

I wasn’t chasing a title or anything public… I just needed to know I wasn’t forgotten.

But the silence lingered longer than my strength.

And the hardest part wasn’t the waiting — it was not understanding why I was waiting. I’d pray and feel nothing. I’d ask God what to do, and the only thing I felt was stillness… the kind of stillness that makes you question whether you missed something.

One night, a familiar scripture surfaced in my mind — not because I opened to it, but because it was one I’d heard and remembered:

“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him.” — Psalm 37: 7

That word patiently hit a part of me I didn’t want touched.

Because patience was the one thing I didn’t have left.

And right there in the quiet, God spoke to my heart — not loudly, not dramatically, but clearly:

“I’m not delaying you. I’m developing you.”

That sentence softened something in me, slowly… but deeply.

He wasn’t ignoring me.

He wasn’t withholding anything.

He was shaping me.

What a Month Can Do

In the weeks that followed, I began realizing something I had missed all along:

Waiting isn’t empty.

Waiting isn’t wasted.

Waiting isn’t God withholding something good.

Waiting is where God prepares you privately for what He’s going to trust you with publicly.

And even within a month — one short month of slowing down and paying attention — God had already begun shifting things inside me:

My patience grew.

My perspective cleared.

My heart softened.

My faith deepened.

My trust matured.

And when things finally started moving — even just a little — I realized something unexpected:

I wasn’t stepping into purpose the same way I would have a month ago.

God had settled things in me that I didn’t even know needed settling.

He strengthened places that were once weak.

He brought clarity to things that were once blurry.

And He gave me peace in places that used to carry fear.

It didn’t take years.

It took willingness.

And God used that slow, quiet month to build a version of me that could actually carry what I’d been asking Him for.

When God Makes You Wait

If you are in that kind of season — the slow, stretching, quiet one — hear this:

You are not behind.

You are not forgotten.

You are not stuck.

You are being strengthened.

Patience teaches surrender.

It teaches trust.

It teaches dependence.

The waiting room is still part of the journey.

And it teaches you to stop measuring God by His speed and start trusting Him by His presence.

It’s where God shapes you quietly for what’s ahead, refines your motives, strengthens your endurance, and prepares your heart for purpose — your purpose.

One day, you’ll look back and realize the waiting wasn’t a detour…

it was the foundation.

📖 Scripture

“Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him…”

— Psalm 37:7

💭 Reflection

Where is God asking you to trust His timing more than your own?

What small act of worship, gratitude, or faith can you offer while you wait?

🙏🏽 Prayer

Lord, teach me the kind of patience that rests in Your timing.

Help me trust that every delay carries purpose and intention.

Strengthen my heart when the silence feels heavy, and remind me that You’re working even when I can’t see it.

Use this waiting season to deepen my faith and prepare me for everything You’ve planned for me.

Amen.

© 2025 Gem of Grace | Author Monica J. Bowland | All Rights Reserved.