For the past decade, it feels like I’ve been in the same space. And honestly, it hasn’t been all bad. Stability has its blessings. I like my home. I like that my job is familiar. My friendships are long-lasting and meaningful. Above all, I am deeply grateful.
But if I’m honest, there’s also a whisper inside me, a quiet longing that says: Is there more?
Do you feel it, too? That tension between contentment and longing? The deep gratitude for what is, but also the persistent hope for what could be?
If so, let me encourage both of us today: No more waiting.
Whatever is keeping us in exile, whether it’s fear, complacency, uncertainty, or simply the passage of time, this is not our forever place. It may be a season, but it is not our destination.
First, let’s settle something: Just because you feel stuck doesn’t mean you’re in the wrong place. God is not careless with our seasons. He doesn’t waste time, even when it feels like we’re standing still.
Think about Israel in exile. Seventy years in Babylon. Seventy years of waiting, longing, wondering when they would finally move forward. And yet, what did God tell them in Jeremiah 29?
“Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and father sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, and don’t be diminished. Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to Yahweh for it; for in its peace you will have peace.” Jeremiah 29:5-7
In other words, flour is right where you are. Even in exile. Even in the waiting. Even when you feel like you should be further along by now.
Because here’s the truth: If we don’t learn to thrive here, we won’t know how to thrive there. Whatever “next” we’re longing for, whether it’s a new job, a new city, a new relationship, or a long-awaited breakthrough, our ability to step into it well is shaped by how we handle the season we’re in now.
So, take a deep breath. Your current season isn’t wasted. God is working, even if it doesn’t feel like it. And while you wait, there’s one thing you can control: your mindset.
We tell ourselves:
I’ll step out when I feel ready. (Spoiler: You’ll never feel fully ready.)
I’ll move forward when the timing is perfect. (But when is it ever perfect?)
I don’t want to fail, so I’ll just stay where I’m comfortable. (But comfort zones are where dreams go to die.)
What if we chose to shift our perspective instead of waiting for the perfect moment? What if we saw our current space not as a prison but as preparation?
Think of Joseph. Thirteen years in slavery and prison. Thirteen years where nothing seemed to be happening. But in reality, everything was happening. God was shaping his character and building his wisdom. Positioning him for a future he couldn’t yet see.
Your current season is doing the same for you. The lessons you’re learning now? The struggles you’re navigating? They are equipping you for what’s ahead. But you have to choose to see it that way.
So here’s the challenge: Flourish where you are, but don’t settle for staying there forever.
If there’s a dream stirring inside you, lean into it. If there’s a vision for more, start preparing for it. Because one day, in God’s perfect timing, exile will end. The doors will open. The next season will come. And when it does, you don’t want to be someone who simply waits. You want to be someone who is ready.
No more waiting. No more holding back.
Let’s plant deeply here while keeping our eyes on there.
And when the time comes, we will step forward out of exile into the future God has been preparing all along. Praise God!
May I encourage both of us? NO MORE WAITING! Whatever is keeping us in exile is not our forever place.
Remember, today, to flourish exactly where you are planted right now! And continue to look towards the horizon. If you can change your mindset, you too will be on the path to bigger and better. And one day in God’s perfect timing we will finally get out of exile.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible: World English Bible, 2020. Public Domain.