“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” — Proverbs 16:3

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I have a dear friend who has been working toward becoming a professional baseball player for several years. He has worked his tail off to hone his craft, build his body, sharpen his mind, and show up season after season in hopes that his lifelong dream will one day come true.

He’s been at this for quite some time now — to the point where some have questioned if it’s worth chasing the dream at all. He’s had moments when he’s questioned the path himself, wondering if he’s heard God right all these years when it comes to the thing he’s prayed for and pursued for so long. Yet, at every turn, God has continued to affirm that it’s only a matter of timing and that my friend needs to be ready to steward the moment when God blesses him with it.

A recent conversation with this friend got me thinking about areas of my own life where I’ve longed for and prayed for God to fulfill certain things. In some cases, I’ve been hoping and asking for things for a very long time. I’ve had my own times of questioning, where I’ve told God I don’t know if it’ll ever happen or if it’s worth it to keep believing. Maybe just settling for what makes more sense or is more readily available is the better option.

But the confirmation has just kept coming: God holds a special blessing for those who stay in the story with Him. Because the truth is, not everyone can walk a journey of faithfulness and patience for what they believe God has for them. The road and the company get narrower the further along in trust you go with Him.

Compromise is so easy. To steward a miracle or a blessing takes a type of person who has been refined and proven worthy of holding that story and honoring God with it. As 1 Corinthians 4:2 says, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” And that often comes from having undergone great testing and suffering along the journey, having the selfishness and sin purged from your life so that you may receive God’s promise or blessing someday and be worthy of it.

The reality is that whatever it is you may be praying or hoping for, God may know that you’re not ready. However prepared or desirous you feel, He sees your heart and knows your story better than you do, and He may realize that you can’t steward a moment like that just yet.

There’s a reason why Jesus said our biggest priority is to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you” (Matthew 6:33). Pursuing God is the ultimate goal.

It’s just as easy to forget God when we have plenty as it is when we’re in need, and we must be found trustworthy with stewarding whatever answered prayer or dream or miracle God entrusts us with. And if we aren’t able to pursue Him in prosperity to the extent we have when we are in want, then we need to trust that God knows best when to give us what we’ve asked.

He knows if and when we are able to steward the moment. We just have to continue to believe.

— Katherine Singer

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