Ever felt like you were watching everybody else’s glory? Like you were watching God bless everyone else and you were always experiencing someone else’s shining moment but it seemed like your turn would never come?

Have you ever felt like you had just as much talent and just as much anointing yet day by day you were passed over?

Have you ever felt a burning desire in you to do and to be something, to the point where you were consumed by it, but had no power or platform to express it?

Have you ever thought ‘well how come no one listens to me, how come they don’t follow me? How come I say something just as powerful, just as inspirational and my grammar is even way better than hers yet I don’t get as much likes?’ (Keep it real 🙂 )

Even worse, have you ever felt like everyone else was getting your blessing? You’ve been praying, believing, fasting and claiming, yet it seemed someone else was always getting the very thing you’re praying for? Ever thought “I know I’m prettier than her, so how come she just got engaged and no one’s even looking at me.” (You know you have 🙂 )

Ever find yourself asking God, “but what about me?”

Well if you have, you are in good company. If you haven’t.. well me neither 🙂

Even the best of us with the best intentions and the sincerest hearts for others get frustrated with “the wait” from time to time.

If we know one thing about God it’s that he makes us wait. There’s just no getting around it. He puts us through a really well thought out, slow cooked process and as hungry as we might think we are, he will not allow us to microwave it.

But if we are wise that is when we should seek him the most and allow the process of our waiting period to mature us. Because whether we realize it or not, as long as we maintain a posture of worship and submission, the process is doing exactly that.

We know that He is a purposeful God who does everything according to seasons and at just the right time (Ecc 3:1) And so we must trust that if we don’t immediately receive what we are praying for, then we simply don’t need it just yet.

The one truth I can always lean on is that God is FOR me, so if I know he is for me I know that when I call, he hears me. Therefore, I can always trust that if I am praying for something I really need he will get it to me right away. I’m confident that God is committed to my good and to the development of my highest self. I am not in any doubt about that. So I know that if he is not moving heaven and earth for me to have what I prayed for (as he has done before) then having it now will not make me any better in this season. If it would, he would do it. This I KNOW.

The challenge then becomes learning how to remain at peace when he says no or not now. Even though I know he is committed to my good, at times, it is still frustrating, especially when I feel as though I’ve been waiting and preparing for a long time. But daily I remind myself that trusting God is never based on how I feel but what I KNOW.  I know what he promised me. I know that he cannot lie (Heb 6:18).

And so when we find our faith standing trial we have to make up in our minds that faith is not just something we shout and sing about in church on Sundays, it is something we must intentionally apply in our day to day lives. We cannot know how strong our faith is until it is tested. And it is at this point that we have to decide: Is God for me or not? Is God good or not? If he’s good then keep on waiting. If not well… you decide.

I’d like to think that we get to a period in our walk where we get to watch everyone else get what we’re praying for to really test our motives and the sincerity of our hearts. Does it make us envious or hateful, or do we still rejoice with our brother or sister as they celebrate their glory? Does it make us angry at God or is it a testament to us that if he did it for them then that’s proof positive he will do it for us too?

But I’d also like to think that God makes us wait to develop a hunger in us so that when our prayer is answered we truly appreciate it and we will not so easily abandon it when hard times come. Hunger, when it is fully developed, lends itself to a higher degree of tenacity and a deeper level of appreciation. When we endure much struggle to get to our blessing, not only are we more grateful, but we fight much harder to protect it.

Our greatness is incubated in our frustration- in that period of displacement where we have pure passion and no platform. I believe it is at this point we develop the character, the discipline and the necessary instinctual push to leap at the opportunity when it does present itself.

Nevertheless, whatever the reason God leaves us in the waiting stage, we have to learn to trust him and trust in his timing even when it’s hard to watch everyone else get blessed but you. Truth is, most times they’ve been where you are and have already passed through their process, so rejoice with them and allow them their moment. When your time comes – and it will – they’ll be rejoicing with you.

So if you find yourself going around the same old mountain with no reward, just remember to “let patience have it’s good and perfect work” (James 1:4). Don’t fall for the illusion that you’re missing out or that everyone else is getting blessed but you.

Quit looking around and focus on your own work (Gal. 6:4). And never ever be a hater :). Then at just the right time God will release your blessing in all of its glory and you’ll be thankful that you patiently endured.

Selah.