billy grham
von Mel RobbinsLadies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters in faith,
Have you ever found yourself asking, "God, where are You?!" Have you ever looked up at the ceiling at 2AM, heart heavy, and whispered, "Lord, what are You doing with my life?"
God is always ahead of us — what feels like a delay to you is divine preparation from Him. We often find ourselves in seasons where everything feels paused, moments where our prayers seem to go unanswered, and time feels like it’s standing still. But what we call delay, Heaven calls development. While we’re pacing the floor wondering when things will move, God is already moving in ways we can’t see. He’s not reacting to your circumstances — He’s orchestrating them. Before the problem even came, He already wrote the solution. Before you felt the pain, He had a purpose in place. And before you ever cried out, He was preparing the answer.
We live in a culture obsessed with instant results — instant success, instant healing, instant change. But God doesn't operate on a microwave schedule. He is a God of process. He shapes, molds, and prepares, not just the promise, but *you* for the promise. The longer the preparation, the greater the purpose. So when things feel delayed, don't panic — pause and ask, “What is God doing behind the scenes?” Because I promise you, something is happening that you don’t yet understand. Divine preparation often feels like human frustration.
Think about it — when God gave Joseph dreams of leadership and influence, He didn’t place him directly on the throne. Joseph had to go through betrayal, slavery, false accusations, and prison. Why? Because the dream was real, but Joseph wasn’t ready yet. The pit wasn’t punishment — it was preparation. Every delay in Joseph’s life was a divine appointment in disguise, leading him exactly where God intended him to be. The same is true for you.
God is always ahead of us. He’s walking through tomorrow while we’re still trying to understand yesterday. That closed door you didn’t understand? He was protecting you. That relationship that fell apart? He saw what you couldn’t. That job opportunity that slipped through your fingers? He had something better aligned with your destiny. We often think we’re waiting on God, but most of the time — *God is waiting on us* to grow into what He’s already planned. That growth comes through preparation, not shortcuts.
Even when it looks like nothing is happening, God is still working. He’s lining up conversations, opening hearts, moving people into place. He’s shaping your character, strengthening your faith, and refining your trust. And when it’s time? When the preparation is complete? It won’t just happen — it’ll unfold so perfectly, you’ll realize *He was ahead of you all along.*
So no, your life is not on pause. It’s in progress — His progress. The delay is not the end, it’s just the middle. Don’t confuse silence with absence. Don’t confuse waiting with wasting. Because your God? He’s already gone ahead. He’s already worked it out. You’re not behind — you’re right on schedule.
Faith is not about understanding the process — it's about trusting the One who designed it. So many times, we try to make sense of what God is doing. We want answers. We want explanations. We want to see the whole map before we take the first step. But faith doesn’t operate like that. Faith isn’t about clarity — it’s about confidence. Not in the plan, but in the One who wrote the plan. It’s knowing that even when nothing makes sense, God still does. It’s believing that even when the path is hidden, the Guide is faithful.
We often pray for direction, and when God gives it, we hesitate because we don’t understand how it will all come together. We want guarantees. We want certainty. But true faith requires surrender — not partial, not conditional, but full surrender. It's letting go of control and saying, "God, I don’t know how, but I trust You anyway." You see, God never asked us to figure everything out. He asked us to follow Him. He didn’t say, “Understand Me.” He said, “Trust Me.”
When Abraham was told to leave his country, God didn’t give him a full itinerary. He said, “Go to a land I will show you.” Abraham had no map, no confirmation, no timeline — just a word. And that was enough. That’s faith. Stepping out when you don’t know where the road leads, because you trust the One who called you to walk it. We want to see the miracle before we move, but sometimes God wants us to move before He shows the miracle.
Faith is uncomfortable because it strips us of control. It asks us to walk through storms without knowing when they’ll end. It tells us to praise even when we’re in pain. It calls us to believe even when we can’t see a thing. Why? Because our confidence isn’t in the process — it’s in the character of God. And if you know His heart, you can trust His hand, even when it’s moving in silence.
God sees the whole picture. While we're stuck staring at a single frame, He knows how every piece fits together. What feels random to us is strategic to Him. What feels like chaos is carefully crafted with purpose. That detour? That delay? That disappointment? All part of the process He designed for your good. Faith says, "I don’t get it, but I know God’s got it." It’s not blind — it’s anchored in who He is.
And the beautiful thing? You don’t need all the answers to trust Him. You just need a willing heart and a belief that He is who He says He is — faithful, good, and always working. The process may be confusing, but the Designer is trustworthy. When you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart. Because faith isn’t about knowing every step — it’s about trusting the One who’s ordering them.
Even in the silence, God is working — don’t mistake divine stillness for absence. How many times have we found ourselves in the midst of a struggle, a prayer seemingly unanswered, or a situation that seems to be dragging on forever? It feels like God is distant, like He’s not listening, and we begin to question, "Where are You, Lord?" But just because God is silent, it does not mean He is absent. Silence doesn’t equal absence. Often, it is in the silence that God is doing some of His most profound work.
When we read the stories of great men and women of faith, we often see the miracles, the breakthroughs, the moments of victory. But what we often overlook are the seasons of silence, the moments when God was quiet, and yet He was still moving. Take the story of Elijah, for instance. After his dramatic victory over the prophets of Baal, he found himself running for his life, exhausted and alone. He sought God in a powerful wind, in an earthquake, and in a fire — but God was not in any of those. Instead, He came in a still, small voice. The silence was not absence; it was a different way of speaking. God was working, but He wasn’t shouting. He was whispering His presence, His peace, and His direction. In the silence, God was preparing Elijah for the next chapter.
There are times in our lives when it seems like we’re waiting for an answer, a direction, or a resolution, and the silence feels unbearable. We pray, and we wait, and we wait some more. It feels as though Heaven is closed. But even in those moments, God is at work. It’s in the quiet that He is often refining us, teaching us patience, and building our trust. There are lessons we can only learn in the silence, lessons that will prepare us for what’s ahead. We don’t always understand why God chooses to be silent, but the truth is, His silence is not a sign that He’s absent. It’s a sign that He is working in ways we cannot yet see.
Think of a seed planted in the ground. For weeks, nothing seems to be happening. The earth is still, the seed is hidden beneath the soil, and we wonder if anything is ever going to come of it. But beneath the surface, something is stirring. The seed is growing, its roots are spreading, and it is quietly being prepared to break through and grow. In much the same way, God’s silence is often the soil in which He is working to cultivate growth in us. He’s not ignoring our prayers; He’s preparing us for the fruit that is to come. Just because we can’t see or hear Him doesn’t mean He’s not moving. Sometimes God’s work is not visible to the naked eye; it’s happening in the unseen, beneath the surface, in the very depths of our hearts.
It’s essential to understand that God’s silence is not a sign of indifference or neglect. He is still present, still active, still working for our good. The silence is an invitation to lean in, to trust, and to rest in the assurance that even when we cannot hear Him, He is with us. The divine stillness is not empty — it is full of His presence, His plans, and His purpose. So, don’t mistake silence for absence. In those quiet moments, God is preparing something greater than we can imagine.
Trials are temporary; God’s promises are eternal. Life often brings us through seasons of hardship, where it feels as though the weight of the world is pressing down on us. We face struggles, losses, and challenges that seem to stretch on endlessly, and in those moments, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. It can seem as though the storm will never end, that the pain will never subside. But even in the darkest moments, we must remember that our trials are not forever. They are temporary, and they are not the final word over our lives. The promises of God, however, are eternal, unshakable, and secure.
The apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Paul, a man who endured more suffering than many of us could imagine, understood that the troubles of this world are fleeting in comparison to the eternal glory that awaits those who remain faithful. He didn’t minimize the pain or the difficulty, but he placed it in its rightful context — it is temporary. Whatever you are facing right now, no matter how difficult it seems, it has an expiration date. God doesn’t leave us in our struggles forever. He is working, even when we can’t see it, to bring us through to something greater.
God’s promises, on the other hand, stand firm through all time. His Word is unchanging. The things He has spoken over your life — the plans He has for you, the hope He’s promised you, the victory He’s guaranteed — are eternal. They do not fade with time. They do not depend on your circumstances. They do not shift when life gets tough. No matter how hard the trial, God’s promise remains: He is with you, He is for you, and He will never leave you nor forsake you. His faithfulness is not determined by your present situation, but by His eternal nature.
The trials you face today are shaping you for tomorrow, but they are not the defining factors of your life. In the moment, it’s easy to let hardship become your identity. You may feel as though you’ll always be struggling, always be in pain, or always be waiting for things to change. But that’s not the full story. The truth is, your trial is a chapter, not the whole book. It’s a temporary moment in a much larger narrative. God’s promises are the final chapter, and they declare victory, peace, joy, and fulfillment.
As you navigate through the trials of life, keep your eyes fixed on the eternal promises of God. Don’t let the temporary struggles distort your view of the bigger picture. Every hardship will one day pass, but God’s Word will stand forever. His love for you will never end, His plans for you will never fail, and His promises will always be fulfilled. When you hold onto those promises, even in the midst of your trials, you can walk in peace, knowing that the temporary pain is working toward something eternal.
You may not see the full picture, but God already painted it with victory in mind. In our human experience, we often find ourselves walking through moments of uncertainty and confusion. We encounter situations that seem incomplete, disconnected, or even downright chaotic. We may look around and wonder, “How does this all fit together? Where is this leading?” In those moments, it’s easy to feel as though we are stuck in a place of incomprehensible mess, unable to see the end result. Yet, we must remind ourselves that our limited vision doesn’t limit God’s ability to work all things together for our good.
God, the Creator of the universe, sees what we cannot see. He stands outside of time and space, and where we are confined by the boundaries of our current circumstances, He sees the whole story. Imagine an artist painting a masterpiece. From the perspective of the person standing in front of the canvas, the brushstrokes may appear random or disjointed. The colors might not make sense, and the shapes might seem out of place. But to the artist, every stroke, every choice of color, every detail, has purpose and intention. In the same way, the pieces of your life, though they may seem disjointed now, are all part of a greater picture that God is carefully painting.
When we face challenges, we often focus only on the brushstrokes — the pain, the disappointment, the confusion — and it’s hard to see beyond what is right in front of us. But God sees the masterpiece He is creating. He knows how every moment, every trial, and every triumph will come together to form something beautiful. You may not understand why certain things are happening in your life, or why doors have closed, or why you are in a season of waiting, but know this: God already knows the outcome. He has already painted the picture, and that picture is filled with victory.
What feels like a setback is often a setup for something greater. The moments that seem like detours are part of the divine design that will ultimately lead to your victory. Just as a sculptor chips away at a block of marble to reveal the masterpiece within, God is chiseling away at the parts of our lives that need refining. Every trial you face, every difficulty, and every challenge is part of His process to shape you into the person He has called you to be.
In the midst of your uncertainty, hold fast to the truth that the end result is already secured. The victory is already yours, because God’s plan for you is rooted in His perfect love, wisdom, and sovereignty. You may not see the full picture yet, but trust that it is a picture of victory. The masterpiece is being revealed in stages, and though it may take time, you can be sure that God is working all things together for your good. So when you cannot see how it all fits, trust that He sees the full picture, and that picture is painted with your victory in mind.
What you call a setback, God calls a setup — for something greater than you imagined! Life has a way of throwing curveballs when we least expect it. What we think is a step backward often feels like a devastating loss, a failed opportunity, or a dead-end. We find ourselves disappointed, frustrated, and sometimes even discouraged, because we can't see beyond the present struggle. But what if the very thing we view as a setback is actually the start of something incredible? What if it’s not a failure but a divine setup for something greater than we can imagine?
In those moments when things seem to be falling apart, it’s easy to question God’s plan. We wonder why He allowed certain doors to close or why certain opportunities didn’t work out. But often, we are only seeing part of the picture. God, however, sees the full view. He understands the purpose behind every season of our lives, and He works all things together for good — even the setbacks.
Take Joseph, for example. His story is a powerful reminder that what we view as setbacks can be divine setups. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and thrown into prison. From an earthly perspective, it seemed like a series of unfortunate events that only led him farther from his dreams. Yet, in the grand plan of God, each setback was a necessary part of the process to elevate Joseph to the position of power where he would eventually save nations from famine. The setbacks weren’t signs of failure; they were steps toward God’s greater purpose for his life. Every betrayal, every hardship, was part of a divine setup.
Sometimes, what feels like a delay is actually God preparing you for a moment that’s bigger and more significant than you ever imagined. We often want things to happen in our timing, but God’s timing is always perfect. A door may close today, but it’s only because God is opening a better door tomorrow. He is aligning people, circumstances, and opportunities in ways that we cannot see yet. And though we may not understand it in the moment, every step, every delay, and every challenge is setting us up for something greater.
This is where trust comes in. Trusting that even when things don’t go as planned, God is still in control. Trusting that He knows the desires of your heart and has a perfect plan to bring them to pass — in a way that will surpass anything you could have dreamed or expected. The setbacks may be painful, but they are not the end of the story. They are simply part of God’s process, a process that leads to something far greater than we could ever imagine.
So when you face a setback, remember that it is not the end. It’s a setup. It’s God working behind the scenes, setting you up for a future that is filled with greater purpose, greater impact, and greater blessing. You may not see it now, but trust that God is always working, even in the setbacks, to bring you into a place of greater fulfillment than you could have ever imagined. The setback is not your defeat — it’s your setup for victory.
God’s promises aren’t fragile. They don’t crumble under pressure. If He said it — He’ll do it! Not on your timeline, but in His perfect time.
So lift up your head. Dry your tears. Stand on His Word. Because God has already worked it out — your only job now is to trust the process!
Thank you, and may your faith be stronger than your fear — always.
