I have shared in some of my earlier reflections how much I have wanted a promotion.
And this has not been something I simply waited for.
I prepared myself. I studied. I pursued professional development.
I went through a very rigorous eligibility examination because I wanted to qualify for executive positions.
And over the years, I have consistently applied for higher positions.
I have gone through interviews. I have prepared myself. I have tried again and again.
And yet, the opportunities I have hoped for have not come.
There were moments when I honestly asked God: “Lord, why does promotion seem to be so difficult for me?”
I would look around and see others being promoted.
Some did not even have the eligibility that I had worked so hard to obtain.
Some were offered opportunities. Some seemed to receive one offer after another.
And I would quietly ask: “Lord, when will it be my turn?”
I would be lying if I said that it never hurt. It did.
There were times when I questioned myself.
There were times when I wondered whether all the studying, preparation, examinations, applications and interviews were worth it.
But today's celebration gives me another way of looking at my situation.
Today we celebrate Mary's birth.
And when we look at the Gospel, we see something fascinating.
Matthew begins by tracing a genealogy. Name after name. Generation after generation.
People whose individual lives seemed ordinary when they were living them.
But all of those generations were part of a story that eventually led to Christ.
They could not see the whole story while they were living their individual chapters.
They simply lived their lives. They made choices. They experienced struggles. They experienced victories and failures.
And yet, God was working through the generations.
Then comes Mary. And through her, God's plan takes another extraordinary step forward.
Mary could not have known everything that her life would hold.
She could not have seen the entire journey ahead of her.
She could not have known all the joy and all the suffering that would come.
But God knew.
And that makes me think about my own life.
We sometimes become frustrated because we are looking at one chapter and asking God why the entire story has not worked out yet.
We see the rejection. We see the closed door. We see the opportunity that went to someone else.
We see the application that did not succeed.
But God sees the entire story.
I have spent years preparing myself for a promotion.
I have studied. I have taken courses. I have gone through professional development.
I have taken the examinations necessary to make myself eligible.
I have submitted applications. I have gone through interviews. I have tried repeatedly.
And still, I am waiting.
There have been times when I wondered why it seems so difficult for me.
Why do others seem to receive opportunities so easily?
Why are some people offered positions?
Why do some people receive several opportunities while I continue to wait?
There were moments when I could not help but compare my journey with theirs.
And when we compare, it becomes very easy to feel that we are being left behind.
But today, I am beginning to understand something.
Their story is not my story.
God did not create me to live somebody else's timeline.
And I have spent too much time looking at where other people are instead of paying attention to where God is leading me.
I may not understand why the promotion has not happened yet.
I may not understand why the doors I have worked so hard to open have remained closed.
But I am learning that I do not have to understand everything in order to trust God.
Mary's story reminds me of that.
Before Mary knew what her life would become, God already knew.
Before the generations in Matthew's genealogy could understand how their lives would fit into salvation history, God already knew.
And my own story is like that.
I am only seeing a small part of it.
I am looking at today's circumstances. God sees the whole picture.
And that gives me peace.
Because I can continue to prepare without becoming desperate.
I can continue to work without constantly asking why someone else has been given what I am still waiting for.
I can continue to pray without telling God exactly when the answer should come.
And I can continue believing that my life has purpose even when the thing I have been praying for has not yet happened.
I am beginning to believe that waiting does not mean that nothing is happening.
Sometimes God is doing work in us while we are waiting for Him to do something for us.
The waiting may be developing my patience.
The disappointments may be teaching me perseverance.
The repeated attempts may be teaching me resilience.
Maybe God is preparing me for something that I cannot yet see.
And when the opportunity finally comes, I may understand why the journey had to take this long.
So today, I want to hold on to this:
God is still writing my story.
I do not know when my opportunity will come.
I do not know what position I will eventually have.
I do not know whether the answer will come exactly in the way I have imagined.
But I know that I can continue to prepare. I can continue to grow. I can continue to do my best. And I can continue to trust.
Because my worth is not determined by whether I have received a promotion.
My worth does not depend on whether someone chooses me.
My worth comes from God.
And when the time comes—and I pray that it will—I want to receive that opportunity with gratitude.
Not because it will prove that I was better than anyone else.
But because it will remind me that God was with me even during the years when I could not see what He was doing.
And when that day comes, I believe it will be fulfilling.
Not only because I finally received what I had been praying for, but because I will know how much the journey taught me.https://youtu.be/SnQ-uMJ53uI?si=z3Dymhko1ptVjhkm
And maybe you are waiting for something too.
Maybe you are waiting for a promotion. Maybe you are waiting for a job.
Maybe you are waiting for a relationship. Maybe you are waiting for healing.
Maybe you are waiting for your family to be restored.
Maybe you have been praying for something for years.
And you are beginning to wonder: “Lord, when will it be my turn?”
If that is where you are today, I want to remind you:
Do not measure your life by somebody else's timeline.
Do not allow another person's success to convince you that God has forgotten you.
And do not assume that because you cannot see anything happening, God is doing nothing.
You may only be seeing one page of your story.
God sees the whole book.
Keep preparing. Keep praying. Keep growing. Keep trusting.
Your story is not finished yet.