God Has a Plan for You—Even When He Seems Silent
We awoke to a fresh inch of snow on the lawn on the first day of April, and it felt like one more day tacked onto a never-ending winter. Whether you’re facing a long winter or enduring a difficult season that seems like it will never end, it can be hard to hold onto hope. You need to know that God has a plan for you, especially when he seems silent.
Most of us don’t wait well.
Waiting for a dream to come to fruition or a difficult time to end can be deeply discouraging. 
God Has a Plan for You While You Wait
King Solomon said it well in his Proverb: “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (13:12).
The Hebrew word for heart in this statement is leb.
It can be translated as the inner part of a person. It denotes the mind and the will.
Solomon tells it like it is: Waiting for a dream to work out or winter to end really can make a mind sick, diseased, and grieved.
I understood the concept of hope deferred on that snowy April dawn with robins dancing on the white.
Our family had been waiting for more than just spring that year. We were all worn out, and we were tempted to lose hope. It was hard to believe God had a good plan for us.
If you’ve been in this place, or if you’re there right now, hold onto these three truths while you wait for your winter to transform into spring. Hold onto them while you wait for your unfulfilled dreams to come to fruition or while you wait for your broken heart to heal:
1. What feels like “No” might really be “Not yet.”
What prayer have you been asking God to answer?
Have you been praying for a loved one to return home, asking God to heal someone you care about, or praying for a dream to come to life?
Perhaps you wonder if God is shaking his head and telling you it’s never going to happen.
Dear friend, what if God’s not telling you no?
What if, instead, he’s whispering, Not yet, my child?
Unseen things are happening in heavenly places, and all the ducks just might not be lined up for now to be the time. What feels like God’s “no” might simply be his gentle “not yet.”
Don’t lose heart if you believe this dream, this prayer, or this hope is from the heart of your Father. Seek the advice of a few people who have been living this walk of faith longer than you have, check your motives, and don’t stop pressing closer to your Maker.
When all signs point to healing on the horizon or the continued pursuit of your dream, take heart and keep putting one foot in front of the other. Today’s “not yet” could be next month’s “yes.”
2. God has a plan for you, but you might miss it if you take offense.
Often, the fulfillment of a promise in your life is more about your heart than anything else. Make up your mind to keep your heart soft and unoffended while you wait. Refuse to grow bitter and turn away from God.
God’s ways are not our ways. His ways are beyond understanding.
This wait might one day make sense in your life, but you might have to wait for heaven to see how the whole puzzle fits together. Make up your mind that even if you have to wait for heaven, you will not grow resentful toward your heavenly Father.
3. When you need to trust that God has a plan for your life, ask for his hope.
Worldly hope is circumstantial. In this world, we hope for what we can see and touch.
Heavenly hope is personal. Heavenly hope is fixed on Jesus walking with us, even when all worldly hope seems lost.
Your highest goal in life is not an outcome; your highest goal is Jesus: to know him more deeply and walk with him more closely with each passing day.
Fix your hope on the promise that Jesus will never leave your side, and you can’t lose Hope. Your highest goal in life is not an outcome; your highest goal is Jesus: to know him more deeply and walk with him more closely with each passing day. This is #Hope. Share on X
The snow took three solid days to melt, and more accumulated before it disappeared that spring.
And the months that followed rolled on much the same.
Nevertheless, summer eventually came. Summer came, and we began again, and those unfulfilled dreams started to feel like invitations to walk in the grace of the One whose timing is perfect.
If your prayers seem to be unanswered, your dreams seem to be unfulfilled, and your hope is faltering, keep doing the thing that has been set before you. Do it faithfully. And trust in what you cannot yet see.
A Free Devotional Book to Help You Trust That God Has a Plan:
Lastly, I have a gift for you today. Glimpses of Hope for When Life Lets You Down is my free 20-day online devotional to help lift your head. You will find 20 daily readings to help you heal in God’s presence. Click here and I’ll send it to your email inbox today!
These Two Books are Free on Kindle Unlimited as eBooks and Also Available in Print:
God wants to work in your life to accomplish what you’ve been unable to do through willpower alone. Lean Into Grace: Let God’s Grace Heal Your Heart, Refresh Your Soul, and Set You Free shares practical ways to experience God’s freedom, healing, power, and presence in your life. Find this life-changing book in eBook form for free on the Kindle Unlimited Plan or for 12.99 in print right here. (You can sign up for a free three-month Kindle Unlimited trial if you are not a member.) This book will transform your life and revitalize your relationship with the Lord!
Calling All Moms and Daughters!
Additionally, my 12-year-old daughter, Bekah, and I wrote a mother-daughter devotional book to help mothers and daughters grow closer together while connecting with God. Girl to Girl: 60 Mother-Daughter Devotions for a Closer Relationship and Deeper Faith includes 60 devotions with Scripture, commentaries from both of us, conversation starters, and even a shared journaling section. Multitudes of mothers, daughters, mentors, and younger women are being transformed by this book! You can find this book in eBook form for free on the Kindle Unlimited Plan or buy a print copy for 11.99 right here.
