If you have lived long enough, chances are you have waited for something at least once or twice. Perhaps it was the dream of owning your own business or home. Maybe it was writing a book, recovering from an illness, restoring your finances, or healing from a broken relationship. These seasons of delay are what we may call “in the meantime” moments.” The question is not whether we will experience them. The question is how we will respond to them. Do we become frustrated because of the delay, or do we become more determined to endure through the process?

We all experience an “in the meantime” season. It is the space between the prayer and the answer. The place between the promise and the fulfillment. It is the season when you have prayed with sincerity and faith, yet nothing seems to be changing. You may be praying for a new job while submitting application after application. You may be believing God for healing while navigating doctor’s appointments and treatments. You may be trusting Him to restore your finances, strengthen your business, or bring a healthy relationship into your life. Yet days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, and sometimes months turn into years.

Somewhere along the way, many of us begin to wonder, “What am I supposed to do while I wait?” When I look back over my own life, I realize that some of my most significant growth did not happen when my prayers were answered. It happened while I was waiting for the answer. After my divorce, I believed what I needed most was another relationship. Instead, God gave me solitude. During those “in the meantime” moments, healing quietly took place. I became emotionally healthier, stronger, and more whole. What felt like silence at the time was actually a season of restoration. We often view waiting as wasted time, but God often views it as preparation time.

One of the greatest temptations during a waiting season is to stop moving forward because we cannot see immediate results. When the promotion has not come, continue developing your skills. When the relationship has not appeared, continue becoming the person God is calling you to be. When the business is growing slowly, continue serving with excellence. When healing seems delayed, continue caring for your body, mind, and spirit. Faith is not sitting still. Faith is continuing to move forward even when you cannot see the entire path.

Sometimes we become so focused on what we are waiting for that we overlook what God is doing within us. Waiting often develops qualities that success alone cannot produce—patience, humility, perseverance, wisdom, compassion, and trust. Many of us pray for the blessing but overlook the character required to sustain the blessing. The “in the meantime” season may not simply be about receiving something from God. It may also be about becoming someone through God.

Waiting can also make us vulnerable to discouragement. We begin comparing our lives to others. We wonder why doors seem to open for everyone else. We question whether God has forgotten us. Comparison will always rob us of peace. God’s timeline for your life is not determined by someone else’s testimony. The person who found love before you, received the promotion before you, launched a successful business before you, or experienced healing before you is walking their journey. You are walking yours. Trust that God knows exactly where you are and exactly what you need. The “in the meantime” is not a holding pattern–it is part of your story.

Enjoy the relationships you have today. Be grateful for the opportunities in front of you. Continue serving, learning, growing, and living fully. Faithfulness in the present often prepares us for what is ahead. One of the hardest realities of faith is that God often works behind the scenes. Roots grow underground long before fruit appears on a tree. A foundation is laid before a house is built. In the same way, God is often arranging circumstances, opening doors, closing others, protecting us from what we cannot see, and preparing us for what we have prayed for. His silence does not mean His absence. His delay does not mean His denial. His timing is often accomplishing something greater than we can understand in the moment.

If you find yourself in a meantime season today, take heart. Keep praying. Keep trusting. Keep growing. Keep showing up. The answer may not have arrived yet, but God is still working. Waiting is not easy. Yet sometimes the greatest miracle is not what God does for us at the end of the journey, but who we become while traveling through it. So, in the meantime, trust Him. He is working—even when you cannot see it.