Are you in a season that feels confusing, where God is calling you into something new, or He is restructuring your life and asking you to lay down everything and follow Him wholeheartedly?
And maybe you’re praying and doing all the “right things,” yet nothing seems to change?
These are the moments when life feels heavy, your hope feels thin, and God’s promises seem delayed.
I’ve been there too.
And maybe, like me, you’ve wondered if you somehow missed God’s direction or if He’s gone quiet on purpose.
But what if this isn’t punishment or delay? What if it’s preparation?
You see, before beauty comes, there’s always a process. We often call it pruning, refinement, or the wilderness: that in-between space where we feel stripped, stretched, and unseen.
These are also the seasons when the enemy will try to pull us off course with distractions that look like divine opportunities. He knows how to appeal to our emotions: our longing for progress, our hunger for validation, or our fear of missing out. And he’ll use them to nudge us toward choices that seem right but aren’t rooted in God’s will.
But Jesus has taught us how to overcome this season because He went through the same, and need I say, a more intense wilderness season than we.
After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, He was driven by the Holy Spirit to the wilderness. And went through different kinds of temptations, but overcame them all.
As such, He has created a pathway for us. We can overcome all the temptations, of course, not perfectly like Jesus, but by grace through faith.
In God’s hands, these seasons are holy.
They’re where He shapes our character, strengthens our discernment, and prepares us for the very promises He’s spoken over our lives.
The Cost
I found myself spending time reading this promise in the book of Isaiah:
“Behold, I will do a new thing. It springs out now. Don’t you know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” — Isaiah 43:19 (WEB)
In another translation, it says, “Do you not perceive it?” That phrase always made me pause and wonder. Was God showing me something I wasn’t seeing?
I found myself reading the chapters again and again, searching for the part I might have missed. Every time I returned to the passage, it felt like God was inviting me deeper, asking me to pay closer attention, and slowly, I began to sense that something new was quietly unfolding in my life.
Looking back, I realize God was anchoring something in me long before I understood why.
He had drawn me into that book, and I stayed there.
So when one of my clients messaged me saying God was going to do a new thing in my life, it felt like confirmation of everything I had been studying. I was thrilled.
You can imagine the thoughts racing through my mind: Finally, life is coming together. Yay! The “new thing” is here.
Then God brought me to the book of Haggai, where it says:
“The glory of this latter house will be greater than the former,” says Yahweh of hosts. — Haggai 2:9 (WEB)
My heart was stirred on a deeper level. It sounded like an increase and leveling up. The fulfillment of long-held prayers.
For weeks, I continued studying, returning to Isaiah and Haggai, trying to understand every nuance of what God was showing me. I poured over the words, reflected, prayed, and imagined what this “new thing” could look like in my life. I thought I had it all figured out: growth, expansion, doors opening, and new opportunities.
And then, unexpectedly, God told me to stop offering freelance writing services.
I was shocked.
There is nothing glamorous about closing your business.
I had assumed the “new thing” meant hiring subcontractors, growing my freelance business, and expanding my reach. I had already started down that path. I thought the promise meant stepping into greater success and finally receiving the things I felt I deserved after years of hard work.
It was confusing. I had expected things to shift immediately. That’s the innocence of early faith when God gives you a promise: you imagine the manifestation will be quick and exciting.
But God is a master strategist. He does not reveal everything at once. He rarely hands you the full picture in a single moment. First, He draws you in with the promise. Then, once your heart is fully surrendered, He begins unfolding the details, and they rarely look the way you imagined.
Obedience Shut Down My Business
I would love to say I closed my freelance writing business immediately.
But that would not be true.
At first, I questioned whether it was really God. After all, He had just told me He was doing a new thing. Why would the new thing begin with sending emails to clients telling them I was taking a break? It took time. I prayed. I processed. I wrestled. And when I became fully convinced in my heart that it was God, I began sending emails, one by one.
Letting go of something you love is hard, especially when you do not know what awaits you. All you have is a promise that a “new thing” is coming, but no details.
There will be moments in life when God asks you to do things that do not make sense. People around you, including family and friends, may think you have lost it. When I shut down my business without another clear plan, I looked foolish.
But God was after total obedience.
He was asking me to lay it down without knowing if I would ever pick it up again.
During that time, God laid it on my heart to go on Instagram and share His Word. No business model. No income plan. Just obedience.
I thought it would be quick. I assumed I would lay it down for a few months and then pick it back up stronger than ever.
It did not happen that way.
One year passed. Then three.
Each attempt left me restless and uneasy, a reminder that this season was not about shortcuts or self-reliance, but about trust and surrender.
On the surface, it made no sense.
But I obeyed.
Sometimes God will ask you to give up something that looks valuable to pick up something that looks small. And that is where the real wrestle begins. Because often, that thing has become your identity.
I identified as a freelance writer. That was who I was. And now God was saying, “You are not quitting writing entirely.” But the part tied to income, lay it down.
I wish I could say I obeyed perfectly from the start. I did not. I studied what other creators were doing. I tried to build strategies based on what the world system said would work. I attempted to shape the assignment on I.G into something that felt safer.
Do not despise the days of small beginnings
Obedience does not bend to strategy.
During that time, life became unexpectedly difficult. Firstly, because I wasn’t walking in total obedience. And secondly, there was intense warfare. I had unknowingly opened doors for the enemy to attack me and the new thing God was doing in my life.
So let me pause and ask…are you doing exactly what God has told you to do in this season? Or are you doing partial obedience?
I had been debt-free for some time, and suddenly I found myself facing financial uncertainty. I wrestled with frustration and fear. I even began looking for alternative sources of income, trying to solve the problem on my own, even though God hadn’t told me to; He would show me what to do.
Then it went deeper.
I was led to read the book of Haggai in its entirety. And as I kept at it, I realized I needed to lay everything down because I was exactly like the children of Israel; I needed to consider my ways.
It was not just business. Some relationships had to end. Certain activities paused. The version of me that thrived on performance had to be laid down.
That Sally needed to heal. She needed to rest.
And that was painful.
Talking about obedience sounds beautiful. Living it is costly. It will stretch your comfort. It will make you look foolish to others.
Maybe for you it is a relationship or a job. Something God is asking you to release, and you are second-guessing yourself.
I pray my story gives you the courage to take the hard step.
Delayed obedience is still disobedience, and it often costs more. Responding quickly and positively to God’s instructions protects you from unnecessary pain.
It may not make sense at the moment.
But it will always lead you exactly where you are meant to be.
God will not give you the new thing on a silver platter. There is a process you need to go through so that He can prepare you. We are called to be good stewards, and as such, we need to go through the pruning season so that we can be ready.
No, God has not forgotten about you. He did not lie; He isn’t a liar. You are just being refined in the fire so that you can steward all that He is about to give you.
Stop fighting the process. Submit to Him.