Before you ask, no, I have not had the baby. Last week’s lack of devotion wasn’t a silent announcement, it was just pregnancy brain. And in the past week, Sam and I have been learning a whole new lesson in patience and waiting for the Lord’s time. It’s not something we’re unfamiliar with. We waited on God to date. We waited on God to get married. We certainly waited on God to conceive this child. And now, we’re waiting on His appointed time for her to come.

We’ve all been there. None of us can say that we’ve never done something outside of God’s will before. The reason being, it’s not a strong suit of humanity to let God have full control over our lives. So it might be easy to say that God has given us a promise, but it’s even harder to walk in it. Why? Because God’s timing is never our timing.

“Cortney, I don’t know how I can keep doing this. I just feel like nothing is happening.”“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Mostly, it seems like God forgot about me.”“I don’t know where God is, but every time I try to sit with Him, He’s silent.” These are variations of things I’ve been hearing a lot lately from my friends and confidants. And maybe I’m a broken record, but I feel like I’ve been saying the same thing in response to it all: Sit still with Jesus. Don’t say anything. Don’t do anything but be with Him.

Hey Pops, Lately, you’ve been teaching me a lot about patience, and it feels like I’ve been waiting on all fronts. A quick scroll through social media puts me under the microscope with false expectations of what my peers think I should have by now: a wild career in corporate America, a gleaming engagement ring on my finger, tons of stamps in my passport, or a trendy apartment somewhere. All things that read success and happiness to the uninvolved, near-sighted bystander, yet all are empty endeavors without the fullness of you behind it.

Wait. It’s the one command from God that none of us want to hear. We’re taught from a young age to be busy, because sitting still means we’re anti-social, lacking drive, and building an unimpressive resumé. We’re hard-wired to believe that forward motion is the only avenue to success. It’s the only way to feel satisfied. So when God says “Wait,” we automatically see it as the proverbial kiss of death or a test of our will.