what if the delay is the training
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." — James 1:2–3
If there's one thing I've learned in my walk with Christ, it's this: faith doesn't grow overnight. We often wish it did. We want instant confidence, unwavering trust, and immediate answers to every prayer. But that's not how God has worked in my life. Looking back, I can see that every season of waiting, every closed door, every disappointment, and every delay became part of God's training process. At the time, those seasons felt frustrating and confusing. Today, I can see they were some of the greatest gifts God ever gave me.
This episode is really a continuation of my earlier story about waiting on God. In that episode, I shared the two-year season after leaving my career to pursue the ministry God had called me to. This time, I want to focus on something different. I want to talk about what those waiting seasons actually produced in me. Because I didn't just learn how to wait—I learned how faith is built.
When I first became a follower of Jesus, my faith looked nothing like it does today. It wasn't because I was doing something wrong. It was simply because faith grows the same way any healthy relationship grows: over time. It develops through conversations, experiences, disappointments, victories, and learning to trust someone day after day. Looking back, I can even see how God was preparing me before I ever surrendered my life to Him. He used my career to teach me leadership. He gave me opportunities to care for people, solve problems, and speak in front of groups long before I realized He was preparing me for ministry. At the time, those experiences didn't seem connected. Now I can see that God was building my character long before I understood His purpose.
One of the hardest parts about following God is that we rarely understand what He's doing while we're living through it. We usually understand it later. During the season itself, all we can see are delays, obstacles, and unanswered questions. But when we look back, we often discover that God was shaping something much deeper than our circumstances. He was shaping us.
I've also learned that every person's faith journey looks different. It's easy to compare our story with someone else's and wonder why God seems to work differently in their life. But God knows each of us personally. Some people come to Christ after walking through addiction or tragedy. Others come through intellectual questions or broken relationships. God knows exactly how to reach every heart because He created every heart. Even when two people experience the same hardship, the outcome can be completely different. One couple may grow stronger after infidelity while another falls apart. One person may become bitter after losing a job while another grows deeper in their dependence on God. The circumstances don't determine our growth nearly as much as our willingness to let God work through them.
For me, faith actually began with questions. I wanted to know if Christianity could stand up intellectually. I wasn't looking for blind faith. I wanted to know if there was evidence behind what I believed. Reading books like The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith helped answer many of those questions. They gave me confidence that Christianity wasn't simply based on emotion or tradition. But as important as those books were, they could only take me so far. Information opened the door, but experience built my faith. There is a huge difference between knowing facts about God and personally experiencing His faithfulness. At some point, every believer has to move from information to relationship. That's where faith truly begins to grow.
That became especially clear during the two years after I left my job to pursue ministry. Financially, those years were incredibly difficult. Bills continued to arrive. Debt increased. Life didn't stop just because I believed God had called me somewhere new. During that season our daughter got married, our son needed a car, and there were countless moments when I wondered how everything was going to work out. I prayed constantly, but there were many days when it felt like nothing was changing. Looking back, I realize God wasn't ignoring my prayers. He was strengthening my dependence on Him. Faith built through dependence is far stronger than faith built through information alone.
One lesson from that season still stands out to me. There was an opportunity God eventually placed in front of me, but because it didn't arrive the way I expected or within the timeline I had imagined, I almost walked away from it. I had grown so weary from waiting that I nearly missed the answer to the very prayers I had been praying. God gently reminded me that His answers don't always arrive wrapped the way we expect. Sometimes we're so focused on our preferred outcome that we fail to recognize His provision standing right in front of us.
After I was hired at the church, I thought I had finally arrived where God wanted me. Instead, He began another season of training. I entered ministry believing it was mostly about preaching or teaching large groups of people. God quickly showed me something very different. Ministry isn't primarily about platforms. It's about people. It's listening to someone who's hurting. It's serving behind the scenes when no one notices. It's walking with families through grief, encouraging people in difficult seasons, and loving the person God has placed right in front of you. Over several years, God stripped away my pride, corrected my assumptions, and completely reshaped my understanding of what it means to serve Him.
Then another transition came. Once again, I sensed God calling me somewhere new, but once again He didn't hand me the entire blueprint. If I'm honest, that's still one of the hardest parts of following Jesus for me. I would love for Him to show me every step, every timeline, and every obstacle before I begin. Instead, He usually gives me just enough light for the next step. Looking back, I understand why. If I had known everything that lay ahead, I probably would have been too intimidated to move forward. Faith grows one step of obedience at a time, not by having every answer before we begin.
As I looked back over the previous seasons of my life, I began noticing a pattern. The delays weren't random. The closed doors weren't punishment. Every obstacle had become another opportunity to experience God's faithfulness. That's one of the greatest ways our faith grows—we remember. We remember the prayers God has answered, the doors He has opened, and the impossible situations He has already carried us through. Remembering God's faithfulness gives us confidence to trust Him again.
I saw that truth play out one more time when another ministry opportunity opened, but there wasn't anyone ready to step into my previous role. Once again, I had to wait. Then one Friday, one of our volunteers called to tell me he had unexpectedly lost his job. My heart immediately broke for him, but at the same time, I sensed God was moving pieces together that none of us could see. Before long, doors began opening, obstacles disappeared, and circumstances that once seemed impossible suddenly came together. By then, I wasn't surprised anymore. I had watched God work too many times to believe He had stopped now.
That season taught me that faith isn't pretending obstacles don't exist. Faith is remembering that God is greater than every obstacle. I still have questions. I still experience moments of frustration and uncertainty. But instead of allowing those emotions to pull me away from God, I've learned to bring them to Him. I don't always receive immediate answers, but I consistently find His peace. My confidence isn't rooted in having every detail figured out. It's rooted in knowing the character of the God who has faithfully walked with me through every season.
Today, my faith looks very different than it did years ago. Not because I have all the answers—I certainly don't—but because I've experienced God too personally to deny His presence. I've seen too many prayers answered at exactly the right time. I've watched too many situations unfold in ways only He could orchestrate. What once looked like coincidence now looks like God's providence. Those experiences have built a faith that no argument could ever take away.
One of the biggest challenges we face today is that our lives are so full of noise that we often miss what God is doing. We fill every quiet moment with notifications, schedules, entertainment, and constant activity. Sometimes we need to slow down long enough to recognize that God has been moving all along. Instead of asking Him for the entire blueprint, I've learned to ask for something much simpler: wisdom for the next step. Strength for today. Courage for today. Grace for today. That's all I really need because that's all He's promised to provide.
If you're in a season that feels delayed, confusing, or uncertain, don't assume God has forgotten you. What feels like a delay may actually be your training ground. Faith isn't built through shortcuts or instant answers. It's built by walking with God one day at a time, trusting Him through every obstacle, and watching Him prove Himself faithful again and again.
One day you'll look back and realize the waiting wasn't wasted.
It was where God was building the faith you needed for everything that was still ahead.
