The very thing you’ve been worried about … The very place you’re desperately seeking change … The situation you feel hopeless in … The relationship you can’t seem to fix … The hurt you can’t seem to heal … The thing you went to bed sad about and woke up stressed over … Honey, if you’re praying about it, God is working on it.

You may not see it right now, and you may not feel it right now, but the absolute truth is GOD IS WORKING RIGHT NOW ON THE VERY THINGS YOU’VE BEEN PRAYING ABOUT.

A day will come when the heavens part and you get to see with your own eyes all God has been doing in those hidden places in this dark season. You will see his mighty works of how every detail that seemed so bad in the moment truly was used for something so much better. Some things we might have to wait until heaven to see and fully know how God answered, but I’m telling you from experience, some times God allows the heavens to part right here on Earth in this lifetime and we get to see it.

Maybe this has already happened to you. Think about it … do you remember when you prayed and prayed for that job? There were a series of slammed doors and dead ends where you grew hopeless. Remember that? All while you prayed and things got worse. Then the job you have now, the job that has brought provision, the job that changed everything … well, it happened. You stepped into the answer to your specific prayers. God was working during all the hardship to bring you where you are today, with a job leading you to better places tomorrow. You just couldn’t see it back then. Don’t miss it now.

Remember when you prayed for a place to live and there seemed to be a time of desperation in finding it? You searched and searched with no success. You prayed and God seemed silent. Yeah, remember that? Now here you are today waking up in that house. Don’t forget this place is an answer to the prayer you once prayed. While you were praying, God was working.

Sometimes he allows the delay just so the delivery is more powerful. Sometimes he allows the darkness just so the dawn will be brighter. Don’t miss what he has already done. If you miss what he has already done in your life, you will miss the fact that he’s working today.

For the past 18 months I’ve prayed over something very personal. At times it was so scary and uncertain. And if I’m being honest, there were times I gave up hope at the end of the day. Ya see, I like Insta Pot kinda prayers. I like pray it and boom … there it is. I like to SEE what I’m searching for real fast. I like the pot roast that cooks like magic fast, not the kind you have to wait for.

And I’ve found sometimes God really does work that way. I’ve literally opened my eyes from praying and the answer be right in front of me. Maybe I should leave God a little tip when he does that. But most of the time I realize God has my prayers in a crock pot and they’re simmering real slow. So slow I can’t see the progress. Nothing seems to be cooking here. I see no change. Those potatoes are still hard and the meat isn’t browning. The finances aren’t changing, the relationship isn’t healed, the future isn’t brighter … dang it God, what are you doing here?

Answer … he is working!

Remember the story of Jesus feeding the crowd in miraculous ways? The miracle of taking what wasn’t enough and making it more than enough? As we read this together, notice how IT NEVER LOOKED LIKE ENOUGH IN THE PROCESS.

Matthew 14: 14-21: When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.”

Notice there was never a time when the 5 loaves of bread and the 2 fish appeared as more. Jesus prayed over what there was and nothing visibly changed. The people didn’t open their eyes to a thousand loaves of bread to feed them all. The harvest wasn’t apparent. The answer wasn’t clear. The meal still appeared to be absurdly insufficient.

I host retreats with anywhere from 12 to 120 women. At these retreats, I feed them. Without fail, I always grossly overbuy. You know why? I fear running out of food. I need to see there is way more pizza than these women could possibly eat. I figure the average person eats 2 pieces of pizza, but some could eat 4, so I buy enough for everyone to have 5.

God doesn’t work like that. You know why? Because he doesn’t fear running out. He’s in complete control of the supply, always. He knows exactly what he is doing, and he’s already seen the end from the beginning. While you’re praying, he’s working. While you see no progress, he’s working in the details of the process. While you’re growing hopeless, he’s saying “girl, you’re not going to believe what I’ve been doing on your behalf!”

My prayer is you hear that loud and clear today. God is saying to you “my girl, you’re not going to believe what I’ve been doing on your behalf!!!!”

I couldn’t see it and I didn’t feel it, but all this time I’ve been praying God has been working. It wasn’t InstaPot prayers like I wanted, but it was a slow roasted plan unfolding and the result is something better than I could have possibly whipped up on my own.

The day will come when you see what God has been doing for you. You will feel the healing. You will experience the change. You will step into the provision. It will happen. But remember in the process it may never appear to be anything more than it already is. Just as the 5 loaves and 2 fish never mulitiplied before the crowds eyes, but what there was never ran out. What wasn’t enough became miraculously MORE than enough. They didn’t realize the miracle until they gathered the leftovers and counted 12 baskets full.

We may not fully realize the miracle until one day we look back and take an inventory and see how God has been so faithful, and even during the darkest of seasons he was preparing a dawn.

Keep praying and God will keep working.