If you know me, you know that I struggle the most with being patient!! Lordy, I cannot wait!! When I want something, I want it NOW! When I need something, I am going to get it RIGHT NOW! Call me crazy, but just like June Carter Cash & Carl Smith once said “Time’s a Wastin’!”

Being impatient is something I have spent many years working on, and it is STILL something I struggle with on a daily basis. For some reason, it is just SO hard for me to not always be in a rush. I want to know what’s next. I want to know how things are going to work out. And once I decide that I want something, waiting for it feels almost impossible.

As we all know, God does not always work on our schedule or our plan. Sometimes His answer is “yes.” Sometimes it’s “not yet.” And sometimes, no matter how badly we want something, His answer is simply “no.”

I think those are the times that we all tend to question the most. One thing that helps me persevere in those moments is knowing and trusting that God will give me the patience and strength to get through those obstacles. It takes a lot of prayer, hope, and faith to overcome those moments of weakness, but the good news is that we don’t have to go through it alone! We have such a strong, faithful, and loving God who is ready to carry us through every single step!

I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts the other day: Stay True with Madison Prewett Troutt and she said something that has changed my perspective. She said “God’s ‘No’ is not punishment, it is preparation. God’s ‘No’ is not rejection, it is redirection”. All I could think of was ‘AMEN!! Thank you, Jesus!!! becasue she is SO right. How many times has something not worked out in your life & looking back on it now, you’re like ‘Phew!! That was a close one! TYJ for saving me from what I couldn’t see & what I didn’t know!!’? And guess what, He saves us EVERY TIME! Whether we see it, know it, or acknowledge it or not- God is always on the horizon ready to rescue us when we need it most.

How gracious is our God?! He is SO good & SO deserving of our love and trust!! And the more I thought about it, the more I started thinking about all the times I had interpreted God’s “no” as something going wrong. What if those moments weren’t setbacks at all? What if some of the seasons that required the most patience were actually God preparing me, redirecting me, and leading me toward something better than what I had planned for myself?

Let me explain more of my thought process behind all of this:

1. God’s ‘No’ is not punishment, it is preparation.

There is so much beauty in the wait!! There is also pain, confusion, and doubt… something we have all experienced. I live a very beautiful and blessed life, but I have also walked through many devastating trials. In some of the most trying times of my life, my patience has been absolutely tested.

From moving to new states, changing jobs, gaining and losing friendships… along with EVERYTHING in between… I have often wondered why God kept me in the unknown. Why couldn’t I have the answer now? Why couldn’t I already be where I wanted to be? Why did I have to keep waiting?

At times, I was so impatient to receive the blessing, the reward, the achievement, the job, the win… that I never realized the amazing blessings God had already placed right in front of me! Looking back, I can see that the house, the job, the new friendships, the experiences, and so many of the things I once prayed for came when God allowed them to. Not necessarily when I thought I was ready for them, but when He knew I was! We can’t always see what God is preparing us for while He is preparing us.

I’ve been blessed to experience failure in many different ways. And yes, I 100% believe that failure can be a blessing! Failure brings opportunity, and with opportunity, God can speak volumes. Failure is inevitable. It’s how we learn, grow, and sometimes realize just how much we need to depend on God.

Without leaning on Him during those seasons of failure, I would probably still be stuck in the same toxic mindset, wondering why things weren’t happening according to my timeline instead of trusting His.

Sometimes the preparation IS the blessing…

You may be praying for God to change your circumstances while God is using those exact circumstances to change you!!

Waiting on God doesn’t mean that nothing is happening. It means trusting that even when we can’t see what He is doing, He is still working for our good!!

2. God’s ‘No’ is not rejection, it is redirection.

God has flat out told me “No.” So. Many. Times. And if you’ve ever wanted something REALLY badly, you probably know how discouraging that “no” can feel. Suddenly, we start asking all of the questions:

Rejection is hard. It can be discouraging, overwhelming, and sometimes even embarrassing. Especially when we have poured so much effort, prayer, passion, and hope into something we were convinced was meant for us. But what if God’s “no” isn’t Him withholding something good from us?

What if He is simply pointing us somewhere else?

I LOVE this verse because I am definitely a planner. I can make the plan, decide exactly how I think everything should happen, and convince myself that I know where my life is headed. And then God can completely redirect it….and he HAS!! Many times!!

There have been things I prayed for that I was absolutely convinced I needed. Opportunities I wanted. Outcomes I hoped for. Doors I desperately wanted God to open. Some of them stayed closed, and some opened just a little…

Looking back, some of those closed doors were a couple of God’s greatest protection and redirection in my life!!

Because a “no” from God doesn’t mean you aren’t good enough. It doesn’t mean you aren’t worthy. And it certainly doesn’t mean that God forgot about you. Sometimes it simply means that he has somewhere else for you to go.

And that is where patience and redirection meet. Because when God closes one door, we usually want Him to immediately show us the next one. We want the explanation. We want the plan. We want Him to say, “Don’t worry!! Here’s exactly why that didn’t work out, and here’s what I’m giving you instead!”Wouldn’t that be nice?! But faith doesn’t always work like that. Sometimes God asks us to stand in the hallway for a little while. And THAT is where patience comes in.

Patience isn’t simply sitting around waiting for something good to happen. Patience is trusting God enough to believe that His plan is greater than our own, even when we don’t understand it yet.

Today, I can look back at so many of those waiting periods, failures, rejections, and trials and see them completely differently. What once felt like God telling me “no” sometimes turned out to be God saying “not yet.” Other times, it was Him saying “not this.” And sometimes, He was leading me somewhere I never would’ve chosen for myself.

Through it all, I am most grateful to The One who has never failed me! Without The Lord, I would never be where I am today. He has pulled me through every obstacle, every disappointment, every unanswered question, and every season where I desperately wanted to know what came next.

I’ve learned that patience is believing God’s plan is greater than my own. It’s surrendering my human doubts, fears, and timelines and trusting that God’s timing is superior. And sometimes, it almost feels like God forces us to be patient because He knows we wouldn’t choose the waiting on our own.

The longer the waiting period, the more opportunities we have to lean on Him. To know Him. To trust Him. To become stronger in our faith. So, if you’re currently in the waiting-

And maybe, one day, you’ll look back at the thing you were so upset didn’t happen and thank God that His answer was better than yours!!!

With the biggest smile and a heart full of gratitude, I wish you well <3

Love,

Madi Brooke