Have you ever felt sure about a step you were taking–only to wonder later why it didn’t lead where you thought it would?
I have.
Recently, I’ve been thinking about some of the ideas I’ve felt inspired to pursue in my coaching work. I’ve created things, refined my framework, learned new processes, and followed ideas that felt right.
And yet, they haven’t always produced the outcome I thought they would.
This week, God gave me two simple words:
Be still.
Later that day, I looked out my window as asphalt was being laid on our airpark’s new runway. I watched the work happening near our house, then looked toward the other end.
A large section was already finished.
Work had been happening that I hadn’t even noticed.
It made me wonder how often we decide whether a step was right by the outcome it produced.
Maybe you followed a prompting about one of your children.
You tried something different in your marriage.
You pursued an opportunity that seemed right.
And it didn’t turn out the way you expected.
There can be a Hidden Pattern underneath what happens next:
When we can’t see the outcome we hoped for, doing something more can protect us from the vulnerability of waiting.
So we search for the next answer, conversation, plan, or thing to try.
But what if the step wasn’t wasted?
Perhaps what you learned, practiced, discovered, or became through that experience was part of its purpose.
Being still doesn’t mean we stop moving forward.
It can mean doing what is ours without requiring each faithful step to produce the outcome we expected.
We keep listening. We keep responding.
And we leave room for God to build something we may not see yet.
Where might you be measuring a faithful step only by the outcome it produces?
