We understand success doesn’t happen overnight and that we often have to practice much patience before our breakthrough arrives. But this is much harder to do when it seems God is blessing everyone else but us. We won’t always understand God’s timing and plans for our life, but by faith we choose to trust in his goodness anyway, even when the waiting stings.
Rachel grew frustrated and jealous as she watched both her sister and maidservant get pregnant. While certainly there was family drama present, part of the sting was that this was a natural and realistic desire for her to have. It was not fueled by pride or simply not being content. All the same, there was nothing she could do to change her situation – except pray and wait on God.
And often we can find ourselves in similar situations. We’re waiting on God’s promises – to birth the very things we were created to do. But all our efforts seem barren. Meanwhile, others seemed to be blessed with fruitful lives.
And the sting we experience is more jealousy than envy. It’s not that we despise others for being blessed. We simply want to experience the fullness of God’s favor in our story as well. And so we’re jealous because we don’t want to miss out on this goodness, and their success simply reminds us of what we don’t have yet.
And, like with Rachel, there’s often little we can do to change our situation, except pray and wait on God. We pray for him to remember us in our plight and to answer our prayers – allowing us to finally embrace the good we’ve been called to bring into the world.
To be sure, it stings when we see others enjoying the good we’re still waiting for. But trust in God’s timing and don’t lose heart. He’s opening and closing doors at just the right time.
Photo by BRUNO CERVERA on Unsplash
