What I Would Tell My 20-Year-Old Self About God’s Timing

If I could sit down with my 20-year-old self, I don’t think I would tell her how the story ends. I wouldn’t tell her about the places she would one day see, the people she would meet, or the dreams that would eventually come true. I think I would simply tell her to trust God a little more and worry a little less.

At twenty, I thought life had to happen according to a schedule. I believed there was a timeline I needed to follow, and every delay felt like a failure. Every closed door felt personal. Every unanswered prayer felt like rejection. I was always looking ahead, always asking, “When?” When will this prayer be answered? When will this opportunity come? When will life finally make sense?

What I didn’t realize then was that some of life’s most important lessons are learned in the waiting.

Back then, waiting felt frustrating. Looking back now, I see it differently. Waiting was where God did some of His greatest work in me.

The truth is, I spent many years thinking that God’s timing wasn’t making sense. There were dreams I carried for so long that they almost felt too heavy to hold. There were opportunities I prayed for that never came. There were plans I carefully arranged, only to watch them fall apart right in front of me. I remember asking God questions I never spoke out loud. Questions whispered during sleepless nights, quiet walks, and moments when life felt uncertain.

• Why is this taking so long?
• Why does it seem easier for everyone else?
• Why am I still here?

Maybe some of you reading this have asked those same questions.

One of the hardest things about faith is trusting God when you don’t understand what He is doing. It is easy to trust when prayers are answered quickly. It is easy to believe when everything is going your way. But what about the seasons when nothing seems to move? What about the years when your prayers appear to disappear into silence?

Those are the moments that test us.

Those are the moments that shape us.

The older I get, the more I realize that God’s timing is not about making us wait for the sake of waiting. Sometimes He is protecting us from something we cannot yet see. Sometimes He is preparing circumstances behind the scenes. Sometimes He is preparing other people. And sometimes, He is preparing us.

I think that’s the part I understand now that my younger self couldn’t.

At twenty, I wanted the blessing. God wanted the growth. I wanted the destination. God was teaching me through the journey.

I wanted answers.

God was building trust.

Looking back, there are things I desperately wanted that never happened. At the time, I was disappointed. I questioned why God had allowed certain doors to close. I wondered why some dreams seemed to drift further away no matter how hard I worked or how sincerely I prayed.

Years later, I found myself thanking Him for those same closed doors. Funny how life works that way.

What once felt like rejection turned out to be redirection. What felt like a setback became protection. What felt like disappointment became wisdom.

Sometimes God sees what we cannot. He sees the bigger picture while we are focused on a single chapter. He sees the roads ahead while we are standing at the crossroads. He sees the consequences of choices we haven’t even made yet.

There is a verse that says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” I used to read those words and move on. Now I understand them differently.

If God’s ways were exactly like mine, I probably would have rushed into situations that would have broken me. I would have received blessings before I was mature enough to appreciate them. I would have mistaken comfort for purpose and convenience for calling.

Instead, God allowed me to grow.

Slowly. Patiently.

Often through experiences I didn’t understand at the time.

Life has taught me that growth rarely happens in the moments we would choose for ourselves. It often happens in the uncomfortable seasons. The uncertain seasons. The seasons where we feel forgotten. The seasons where we wonder if anything is happening at all.

But something is always happening. A seed spends a long time beneath the soil before anyone sees a flower. The roots grow first. The foundation forms first. The unseen work happens first. Maybe that’s why some seasons feel so quiet. God is strengthening roots that will support future blessings.

When I think about my life now, I can clearly see moments that only make sense in hindsight. The opportunities that arrived at exactly the right time. The friendships that entered my life when I needed them most. The lessons that prepared me for responsibilities I didn’t yet know were coming. The answered prayers that took years instead of months.

If they had arrived earlier, I wouldn’t have been ready. That’s a difficult truth to admit. Sometimes we think we are waiting on God, when in reality, God is waiting for us to become the person capable of carrying what we are asking for. That realization changed the way I pray.

I still bring my dreams to God. I still hope. I still plan. But I hold those plans with a much looser grip than I once did. Because experience has taught me that God’s plans have consistently been wiser than my own.

Not easier. Not always more comfortable.

But wiser.

If I could leave my 20-year-old self with one final thought, it would be this:

Stop measuring your life by what has not happened yet.

Stop comparing your timeline to someone else’s.

Stop assuming that delays mean God has forgotten you.

Your life is unfolding exactly as it should. The prayer you are waiting for may take longer than expected. The dream you carry may arrive in a different form than you imagined. The road ahead may include detours you never planned for. But God is not lost, even when you feel lost. And one day, years from now, you will look back at all the twists, delays, disappointments, and unanswered questions and realize something beautiful: God was writing a better story than the one you would have written for yourself.

And every chapter—even the difficult ones—had a purpose.