It is easy to feel behind when the world moves loudly and your life feels quiet. When milestones seem to come effortlessly for everyone around you and you are still waiting, still becoming, still wondering if something has gone wrong with your timeline. But what if the pace you have been given was never a punishment? What if the waiting was never wasted? This is God’s voicemail for everyone who has been secretly afraid their life is running too late.

New Voicemail from God — 6:14 AM

I want to tell you about what’s beautiful about your timing.

Your timing is making you. It’s giving you wisdom that fast-tracked people don’t get.

– Jacqueline Whitney

You’ve been so worried that you’re behind. So worried that you’re moving too slowly. So worried that you’re missing out while everyone else seems to be running ahead. You keep comparing your timeline to people whose stories were never meant to be yours. But your timing is beautiful.

It’s beautiful because it’s intentional. It’s beautiful because every season has had a purpose, even the ones that felt wasted. It’s beautiful because you’ve been growing in ways that wouldn’t have been possible if I’d given you everything sooner.

The pace I’ve set for you isn’t slow. It’s specific. The waiting hasn’t been delay. It’s been depth. The seasons that felt like nothing was happening were the seasons I was building you in ways that couldn’t be rushed.

Your timing is making you. It’s giving you wisdom that fast-tracked people don’t get. It’s giving you appreciation that easy paths don’t develop. It’s giving you discernment that only comes from waiting longer than you wanted to.

Stop measuring your timing against anyone else’s. Theirs isn’t yours. Yours is good. Yours is intentional. Yours is exactly what you need to become who you’re meant to be. Your timing isn’t broken. It’s beautiful. Trust it.

Jacqueline Whitney is the author Held: A 50 Day Devotional For Parents and All That You Deserve.