In all honesty, I’ve been believing God for a lot lately. I’ve even given Him a deadline. How dare I do that, you ask? Well, I’m daring to believe that God has a good plan for my life, and that He’s willing and able to help. After all, who am I to deny what the Lord can do?

I like to call a problem that only God can solve a “God-sized” problem. Perhaps you have one or two God-sized problems of your own. Let’s face it – waiting is hard, and waiting well is even harder. But the Bible says that we can to be full of joy and peace as we believe, and that the Holy Spirit gives us power to remain hope-filled (Romans 15:13). Yet I had still been struggling with doubt and unbelief regarding the some of the God-sized problems I had. I knew I had some spiritual work to do.

So I sat down and had a heart-to-heart with God. I cried. I complained. I felt sorry for myself. I told the Lord that I didn’t understand why all this was still happening and why after so many years of believing nothing was changing. The Lord then, ever so gently, explained to me that things actually had been changing but I just hadn’t perceived them yet. Then I heard,

“Behold, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs forth; do you not perceive and know it and will you not give heed to it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:19

Could it be possible that while we are waiting on God to do something, we are actually missing what He is really doing? Perhaps we miss the things God is doing because they are not what we were expecting or hoping for. Maybe we’ve been too busy or distracted to catch what the Lord is trying to do for us or even in us. Perhaps what God is doing begins so small we deem it insignificant or silly. What if I pray for a tree and God gives me an acorn? Does that mean God didn’t answer me or that He isn’t working?

What if our perception of what God is doing is more significant than having proof of God working? Paul references the passage (above) in Isaiah as he explains that some will look and look with their eyes but will not see. He goes on to say that they shut tight their eyes so they will not perceive what God wants to do (Acts 28:26-27). I don’t know about you, but I have decided that I want to embrace and participate in whatever new thing God wants to do in my life, whatever that may look like.

While we’re still waiting on God, let’s be hopeful, expectant and assured that the Lord will perfect everything that concerns us (Psalm 138:8). And until He does, let’s speak, believe, see and partner with the things God is doing, no matter how small, insignificant or different they may seem. Amen.