Feeling Stuck in Life: When You Don’t Know What Comes Next (Part 1)
There are seasons in life when it feels like everyone else is moving forward while you’re standing still.
Maybe you’re stuck in a job that no longer feels meaningful. Maybe a relationship has changed. Perhaps the future you once pictured for yourself hasn’t happened the way you expected. Or maybe nothing is obviously wrong, you simply have the nagging feeling that you’re supposed to be somewhere other than where you are.
Feeling stuck can be frustrating, but from a Christian perspective, being stuck and being without purpose are not the same thing. Sometimes what feels like a delay may actually be a season of preparation.
I have heard it said that life can sometimes feel like a waiting room. We know we are supposed to be there. We are simply waiting our turn. I am here to tell you that God is still at work in the waiting.
Scripture is filled with those who experienced long periods when life didn’t seem to be moving in the direction they expected. Joseph endured years between his dreams and their fulfillment. I’m sure his prison felt like the worst possible waiting room. Moses spent decades in the wilderness before stepping into the work that would define his life. When we are in the desert, the waiting can be even worse. Who wants to wait in a dry and parched land?
David was anointed to be king by the Lord with Samuel’s guidance long before he actually became king after Saul. David’s waiting certainly wasn’t wasted. I would imagine David knew what it felt like to be overlooked. When Samuel came to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as king, Diavd even initially brought in from the fields.
And, later when Goliath challneged Israel, David wasn’t the obvious choice to to face him. Remember? Do you think it’s possible there were giants David had to learn to overcome while he was waiting in the field as a shepherd boy? Oh sure, he fought his share of lions and bears. But, it would also seem imaginable that the young boy David might have battled insecurities over not being good enough, over not being selected or called out of the waiting room. Perhaps that’s why David was so emboldened and ready to fight Goliath. He was primed. He was prepared for what lay before him.
We often want God to show us the entire plan. Instead, He frequently gives us enough light for the next step.
Proverbs 3:5–6 reminds us:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Notice that the passage doesn’t promise we’ll always understand the path. It asks us to trust the One leading us along the path.
In the waiting. In the not knowing. In the times in life when our faith is tested.
What feels like nothing but an interruption may eventually become part of the preparation for something you cannot yet see.
So pray. Listen. Be honest about what needs to change in you in the waiting. And then take the next step you know to take, while leaning on God’s understanding.
Brent Johnston is a Certified Life Coach at the Center for Hope and Healing. Through life coaching, Brent helps individuals work through seasons of transition, clarify goals, identify obstacles and take practical steps toward greater purpose and direction. To schedule a life coaching session with Brent or for more information, email him at bjohnston@chhms.org or call the Center for Hope and Healing at 601.898.4947.