My dad taught me to surf when I was a teenager, and though I don’t do it very often and I’m not terribly good at it, I really enjoy it when I go. Interestingly, something a lot of people don’t know about surfing is that it requires a good deal of patience, because there are extended periods of waiting involved. When you first get in the water, you paddle like crazy to get out far enough to catch a set (which is a series of waves), and then you kind of just hang around and keep your eyes on the horizon until they swell. Once they gain momentum, you stand up and you either wipe out or enjoy the ride. Strangely, I think life is like this, too. Nearly every time I’ve enjoyed success, there’s been a lot of preparing and watching, and then I simply caught the wave when the right thing came along. It was like this when I answered the call to pastor Shepherd’s Grove, and it’s how I ended up married to Hannah. The greatest blessings have found me as I’ve contentedly and prayerfully waited as opposed to grinding away trying to make them happen. In fact, as I look back, I’m very grateful that much of what I was attempting to force into existence didn’t materialize, because it doesn’t begin to compare with what I inherited as I stood by for God’s best.

My friend, in your current season, I encourage you to embrace a posture of waiting as opposed to grinding. Right now, you are sitting on the surfboard of life and the waves of possibility and success are starting to form beneath you. As you feel them swell, don’t use up your energy trying to get out ahead. Instead, enjoy where you are, keep your eyes on the horizon, and wait until you have God’s peace in your heart before you go. Then, when the time is right, get up, hold His hand, and enjoy riding on the crest of His power into an ocean of divine opportunity that far exceeds anything you could conjure up in your own effort!