I think one of the most disorienting parts of following God is this: He’ll call you into something, and then not rush you into it.
You expect movement. Momentum. Clarity.
Instead, you get…waiting.
Not the passive, sit-on-your-hands kind of waiting. But the kind that feels like you’re doing everything you know to do—seeking Him, showing up, staying faithful—and still wondering, “God, what are You doing?”
That’s the kind of conversation we stepped into on this week’s episode of Not Just Waiting.
Pat Domangue shared that God called her into ministry in 2002.
And like most of us would, she assumed that meant things would start unfolding pretty quickly. That doors would open, things would align, and she’d step right into what God had for her.
But instead, it took years. Decades, even. And somewhere in the middle of that, everything fell apart. Not in a subtle way. In the kind of way that leaves you sitting in the tension, trying to figure out how something that felt so clearly from God could feel so unclear now.
I think that’s the part we don’t talk about enough. We love talking about calling.
We don’t always talk about the becoming.
Because becoming is slow. It’s layered. It’s repetitive. It doesn’t follow our timelines. And if we’re honest, it doesn’t always look spiritual—it just feels hard.
One of the things that stayed with me from our conversation was this picture of a potter. When clay is being shaped, there’s a point where it’s formed into what it’s going to be—but it’s not ready yet. So the potter places it on a shelf.
Not to forget about it. Not to ignore it. But to let it harden enough to handle what comes next. Because if it goes into the fire too soon, it won’t hold. It won’t last.
It might even shatter completely.
I couldn’t stop thinking about that.
Because how often do we interpret the shelf as abandonment, when it’s actually preparation? How often do we assume God has paused, when He’s actually being intentional?
We want to skip to the part where things make sense. Where the calling feels clear and established. But God is just as present in the unseen forming as He is in the visible fruit.
Pat talked about how she had to release expectations—what she thought ministry would look like, how quickly it would happen, and even where it would take place. And I think that’s where this hits home for so many of us.
Because we don’t just surrender outcomes. We have to surrender timelines. We have to surrender the version of the story we wrote in our heads. And sometimes, even the roles or labels we thought we’d carry.
That doesn’t mean God changed His mind. It means He’s doing something deeper than we expected.
There was a moment in our conversation where we talked about how these seasons aren’t just one-time things. They’re cycles.
God will walk us through something, refine something in us, and then—at some point—bring us back through a similar kind of season again.
Not because we failed. But because there’s more to form. We are not one-and-done people. We are becoming. And becoming requires repetition. It requires surrender.
It requires trust when we don’t have the full picture. It also requires something we don’t love to pray for—patience.
Not the kind we pretend to have. But the kind the Holy Spirit actually produces in us. The kind that holds steady when things take longer than we thought. The kind that keeps showing up when nothing feels like it’s changing. The kind that trusts that God is still good…even here.
And maybe that’s where you are right now. In a season that feels slower than you expected. Quieter than you hoped. More confusing than you planned.
You’re not behind. You’re not forgotten. And you haven’t missed it.
You might just be on the shelf. And if that’s true—then God is not done with you. He’s preparing you to hold what’s coming next. Not just to receive it, but to sustain it.
So if you’re tired of waiting, I get it. But don’t rush what God is carefully forming. Because what He’s building in you now is what will carry what He’s calling you into later.
-Reanna
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