Some seasons feel like standing in a hallway with two doors on opposite sides. You know God has something for you, but the next step is unclear. You’ve been trying to live for the Lord, you’ve been praying, and you still keep asking the same question. Do I wait or do I move?
One truth keeps surfacing for me. God often asks for acceptance before He gives you clarity.
God’s Will Shows Up In Real Life
A lot of us treat God’s will like a hidden riddle. We keep hunting for a secret clue. Meanwhile, God tends to work in plain daylight.
Things play out. A door opens. A door closes. A relationship grows. A connection fades. Money comes in. Money stays tight. An opportunity lands in your lap, or it doesn’t.
The practical side matters because it keeps us grounded. Faith has a spiritual heartbeat. If God has you in a certain place right now, there’s usually a reason it has taken shape the way it has.
The Trap Of Living In Theoretical Faith
Hope has a place. Your big prayers have a place. Your vision has a place.
But there’s a version of all that where you live in your head and call it wisdom. You keep running through scenarios like a sports commentator.
Maybe God will do this.
Maybe He’ll do that.
Maybe next week everything will change.
Meanwhile, today sits here, untouched.
So here’s a better question than “When will my life shift?” What does obedience look like inside the life I already have?
That question doesn’t feel as exciting, but it does feel real. And real is where growth happens.
Acceptance Takes Strength
Acceptance sounds simple until you try it.
Acceptance looks like acknowledging your situation without wrestling it to the ground every morning. It looks like praying through the season instead of only praying for the escape hatch. It looks like letting the Holy Spirit form your character inside the limitations.
Some people hear acceptance and think it means you stop caring. I see acceptance as courage with open hands. You’re saying, “Lord, I’m here. Work with me here.”
And honestly, that takes more backbone than constant scrambling.
This Season Can Be A Training Ground
There’s a reason Scripture talks about refining. The image intentionally carries heat and pressure.
God builds people in seasons that feel slow. He shapes your reactions. He steadies your emotions and he teaches you what you keep trying to skip.
Later, when you step into a new opportunity, you’ll bring something with you that you didn’t have before.
Maturity.
Patience.
Discernment.
A calmer spirit under stress.
That’s the point. The season does work in you while you’re doing your best to survive it.
Two Different Situations Need Two Different Responses
There’s an important distinction here that a lot of people mix up.
Sometimes a hard season shows up because God placed you there to grow you. The right move involves humility, prayer, and steady faithfulness.
Other times, you’re stuck in a pattern that keeps dragging you toward sin. You keep getting warning signs. You keep feeling the pull. You keep ending up in the same mess. That situation calls for repentance, boundaries, and decisive change.
So it helps to ask, “Am I being refined here, or am I being pulled back into a ditch.”
That question can save you years.
Gratitude Turns The Lights On
One of the most underrated spiritual moves is gratitude in a season that feels underwhelming.
Not fake gratitude. Not the kind that pretends everything feels amazing.
The grounded kind. The kind that says, “Lord, I trust You have purpose here. I want to walk this road all the way with You.”
That mindset changes how you treat yourself and others. You become more patient. More gentle. Less frantic. You stop trying to force outcomes and start focusing on obedience.
And strangely, that is often when the next door opens.
A Simple Way To Pray This Season
Lord, help me accept what You’ve allowed in my life right now. Show me what You want to grow in me. Teach me how to be faithful with what’s in front of me today. Give me wisdom to move when You call me to move. Give me peace while I wait. I trust Your ways, even when the route feels confusing. Amen.
If you’re in that in-between stretch, take heart. God could be building something in you right now, even when it’s quiet.
I’m the writer behind Monk & Martyr. I don’t have formal seminary training, and I take comfort in the fact that Saint Francis of Assisi did not either. My “training” has been lived conversion and the slow work of following Jesus through real seasons of life. I write honest, Scripture-rooted encouragement that points back to one thing. You’re loved more than you know, and Christ’s grace is bigger than whatever you’re carrying.