Behind the scenes

If you’re calling it “delay,” heaven is calling it “formation.” God is working behind the scenes—don’t bury what He’s still building.

Stop reading your life like God walked away.

Stop calling it “nothing” just because it isn’t dramatic. Because some of the most dangerous lies don’t come as temptations—they come as interpretations: Maybe it’s over. Maybe it’s too late. Maybe I missed it. And if you’re not careful, you’ll start preaching a funeral over something heaven is still building.

I’m coming straight for that lie today.

Because the truth is this: God doesn’t only work in what you can track. He works in what you can’t. He’s not just the God of sudden breakthroughs and obvious open doors—He’s the God of hidden formation, quiet rearranging, unseen protection, and slow, holy shaping. And right now, while your mind is demanding proof, the Lord is doing something deeper than proof—He is doing preparation.

So let me speak to the weary believer who’s been staring at the delay, the resistance, the closed door, the unanswered question, the repeated battle—trying to decide what it “means.” Here is what it means: God is not absent. God is not confused. God is not finished. The silence is not a no. The pressure is not your punishment. The opposition is not your obituary. It’s the sound of a process—one that is being supervised by a Father who doesn’t waste a single detail.

And listen—God is not trying to “figure out” how your story ends. He sees the beginning from the end. He already knows the outcome, and it does not frighten Him. He is not intimidated by timelines, not startled by opposition, and not threatened by how complicated things look right now. What feels uncertain to you is already known to Him, and that’s why He can be calm while you’re tempted to panic. He isn’t guessing. He isn’t reacting. He’s finishing. And if the Lord already knows the end, then you don’t get to surrender in the middle.

What you call hidden, God calls intentional.

Because His goal is not only to get you through life—it’s to form Christ in you. There are parts of your life God is not merely trying to improve; He’s trying to transform. There are things He’s not just trying to fix; He’s trying to redeem. And the way He does it is rarely the way our flesh would choose. The flesh wants quick relief. The Spirit wants lasting fruit. The flesh wants comfort first. The Spirit wants Christ formed first.

And that kind of forming doesn’t always happen in public. It often happens behind the scenes—where nobody claps, nobody notices, and yet everything is being reshaped.

Now, I’m going to acknowledge something up front, because I don’t want to pretend we’re walking into a simple conversation. The subject of how God works—His foreknowledge, our response, His sovereignty, our obedience—has been debated for a long time. Some believers get strengthened by it. Others get bruised by it. Some build worship from it. Others build arguments from it. I’m not here to start a theological cage match. I’m here with a prophetic burden: to put hope back in the believer, and to re-anchor you in the heart and character of God.

Here’s the perspective I’m bringing to you—boldly and tenderly: in the life of a true believer, God is never “trying to figure it out.” He is never surprised by your process. He is never threatened by resistance. He is never pacing heaven hoping you don’t ruin everything. He is steady. He is intentional. He is wise. And He is faithful to finish what He begins.

I know how it feels when life starts speaking louder than promises. I know how it feels when time stretches and you start measuring your faith by outcomes. I know how it feels when you’re doing your best to walk uprightly, and yet you’re facing resistance that makes you wonder, Did I do something wrong? Did I miss God? Did I misunderstand Him?

But I’ve learned something that keeps me from collapsing in those moments: God does not measure your life the way you do.

You measure by what changed around you.

God measures by what is being formed within you.

You measure by speed.

God measures by depth.

You measure by visibility.

God measures by likeness.

And the aim of His work in your life is not merely comfort—it is Christlikeness.

That’s why I refuse to let you call your process “wasted.” That’s why I refuse to let you call your waiting “meaningless.” That’s why I refuse to let you interpret your resistance as rejection. Because there is a holy reality at work in you: God is shaping a believer who will not only talk about Jesus, but look like Jesus.

Some of you have been interpreting struggle as disqualification. You’ve been looking at the warfare and concluding, I must not be called. You’ve been looking at the delay and concluding, I must have missed it. You’ve been looking at the pain and concluding, God must be far.

But I’m here to tell you: the presence of a process is not proof of God’s absence. Many times it’s proof of God’s involvement.

Because God doesn’t just snatch you out of darkness and then leave you unchanged. He saves you, yes—but He also shapes you. He rescues you, yes—but He also refines you. He delivers you, yes—but He also forms you, strengthens you, and teaches you to obey from the heart.

And here’s where “behind the scenes” becomes more than a catchy title—this is where it becomes a lens you can live through: there are realities in your life that are being arranged that you cannot see yet.

God is working in motives you didn’t know were there.

God is working in desires you thought were fixed.

God is working in wounds you tried to bury.

God is working in patterns you excused.

God is working in your “yes,” so it becomes costly and real—not casual and shallow.

Some of you want God to remove opposition, but God is using opposition to reveal what needs healing. Some of you want God to speed it up, but God is using time to deepen your roots. Some of you want instant clarity, but God is teaching you to walk by faith—because faith that only moves when it sees is not faith. It’s just sight wearing spiritual language.

And let me say something that will free someone right now: you cannot always judge God’s activity by your emotions. You cannot always judge God’s presence by your comfort. You cannot always judge God’s favor by how smooth things feel. Sometimes the greatest indicator that God is working is that He is confronting the things in you that used to run your life.

Because when God puts His hand on a believer, He doesn’t only shift circumstances—He shifts composition. He starts working on what’s underneath. He starts building new foundations. He starts tearing down hidden idols. He starts strengthening spiritual muscles you didn’t even know you had.

And that’s why you feel the friction.

It’s the friction of transformation.

It’s the friction of an old self being challenged by a new nature.

It’s the friction of God refusing to let you stay shallow when you were made for depth.

Now let me put something in here very clearly, because it matters—and because it protects you readers from swinging into extremes.

God has absolutely called each of us to be holy. That is not optional. That is not a “special believer” thing. That is the will of God for His people. Holiness isn’t a trend and it isn’t a religious badge. Holiness is what happens when God is truly Lord. Holiness is what happens when His presence becomes more precious than your preferences. Holiness is what happens when your heart stops negotiating with sin and starts agreeing with heaven.

But here is the truth that will keep you from bondage: the holy life is not produced by natural, self-imposed, legalistic striving. Holiness is not “I will grit my teeth and behave.” Holiness is not “I will punish myself until God is pleased.” Holiness is not “If I perform well enough, God will finally love me.”

No. Holiness—real holiness—is the fruit of the Spirit’s sanctifying work in a surrendered life.

Legalism changes behavior for a while, but it doesn’t heal the heart. It can make you look clean on the outside while you stay exhausted on the inside. It can produce guilt, fear, comparison, and secret cycles. It can create a Christian who is constantly measuring themselves and never actually enjoying communion with God.

But the Spirit of the Lord doesn’t just tell you what’s right—He empowers you to live it. He doesn’t merely demand holiness; He produces holiness. He doesn’t just point at Christ; He forms Christ in you. And the difference is everything.

Because the work of the Spirit is not shallow behavior management—it is deep transformation.

It’s the Spirit teaching you to love what God loves.

It’s the Spirit teaching you to hate what destroys you.

It’s the Spirit giving you power to say “no” without becoming proud.

It’s the Spirit giving you humility to repent without drowning in shame.

It’s the Spirit changing your appetite, not just your image.

So yes—God calls you to holiness. But He does not call you to manufacture holiness without Him. He calls you to partnership: to yield, to abide, to walk with Him, to keep returning to His presence, to keep choosing obedience as a response to love—not as an attempt to earn love.

That means if you’re reading this and you’ve been trying to “fix yourself” in your own strength, the Lord is inviting you into a different way. Not less serious—more powerful. Not more lax—more real. The way of the Spirit. The way where conviction doesn’t crush you, it cleanses you. The way where repentance doesn’t shame you, it restores you. The way where obedience isn’t a burden, it becomes the fruit of fellowship.

And this ties directly into the whole message: because God’s behind-the-scenes work is often the Spirit working under the surface—making holiness possible, making obedience sustainable, making Christlikeness real.

Now, let’s talk about that line believers love to quote—“all things work together for good”—because it’s the backbone of this perspective.

A lot of people say it like a bumper sticker, and then life hits, and they feel betrayed because they assumed it meant, “All things will feel good, look good, and make sense quickly.”

But that’s not what it means.

It means God has the power to weave what is bitter into what is fruitful. It means God can take what was meant to crush you and use it to conform you. It means God can take the very pressure you wanted to escape and turn it into the thing that produces maturity, endurance, discernment, humility, authority, compassion, and depth.

Not everything that happens is good. Some things are evil. Some things are painful. Some things are the consequence of someone else’s choices. Some things are spiritual warfare. Some things are the brokenness of a fallen world.

But God is good. And God is a Redeemer. And in the life of a true believer, the story does not end with the weapon—it ends with the wisdom God extracts from the warfare.

That’s why I can say, without flinching: His plan is absolutely perfect.

Not perfect in the sense that every day feels painless.

Perfect in the sense that it accomplishes what love intended.

Because God’s perfect plan is not simply to make you comfortable; it’s to make you like Christ.

And here’s where the opposition piece matters, because some of you have been shocked by how intense it’s been. You expected that as you drew closer to God, everything would get easier. You expected that obedience would silence resistance. .But instead, you’ve felt pressure, contradictions, misunderstandings, spiritual warfare, delays, setbacks.

Beloved, that doesn’t mean you misheard God. Sometimes it means you heard Him clearly.

I’m not trying to romanticize suffering. I’m trying to awaken you to the reality that the enemy resists what threatens him, the flesh resists what will kill it, and the world resists what exposes it. So when God begins forming Christ in you, the old patterns in you panic. When God begins lifting your faith, fear starts screaming. When God begins strengthening your obedience, excuses start negotiating.

But none of that gets the final word.

Because the Lord who sees the end from the beginning is not shaken by the middle. He is not surprised by the valley. He is not frightened by the complexity. He is not intimidated by the opposition. He already knows where this is going, and He is not worried.

So I’m going to speak over you with clarity: opposition does not get the final word over a believer.

Resistance cannot cancel what God ordained.

Delay cannot erase what God promised.

A closed door cannot shut out the One who holds the keys.

A setback cannot rewrite a calling.

And yes, you may stumble. You may wrestle. You may have questions. But you will not be discarded. Because the One who authored your faith is not about to leave the story unfinished.

Some of you should hear this the way a tired child hears a father: I’ve got you.

Not “try harder.” Not “be perfect.” Not “earn it.”

Just: I’ve got you.

Because God’s grip is stronger than your weakness. And when you’re tempted to measure your future by your present exhaustion, I want you to remember: the Lord is not asking you to be the finisher of your faith. He already took that job.

Your job is to keep yielding.

Your job is to keep returning.

Your job is to keep believing when emotions fluctuate.

Your job is to keep choosing obedience as worship.

Your job is to keep hope alive when the enemy tries to smother it.

And some of you are going to have to get serious about hope again. Not hype—hope.

Hope that refuses to call God a liar.

Hope that refuses to agree with despair.

Hope that refuses to interpret delay as denial.

Hope that refuses to quit while heaven is still writing.

Because despair loves to speak in absolutes: Always. Never. Over. Too late.

But the Spirit speaks differently: Keep going. Stay faithful. I’m working. I’m forming. I’m finishing.

So here is what I’m declaring over you: you will not quit in the middle of the process. You will not give the enemy the satisfaction of watching you bury your own promise. You will not let disappointment rewrite your theology. You will not let delay turn into despair.

Because behind the scenes, the hand of God is moving.

He is shaping your character.

He is strengthening your endurance.

He is purifying your motives.

He is healing what you hid.

He is teaching you to hear Him without needing constant fireworks.

He is aligning you with His will—so your “yes” becomes powerful, consistent, and clean.

And I’m going to say it as plainly as I can: His plan will be achieved in spite of the greatest opposition.

Opposition cannot outlast God’s patience.

Warfare cannot override covenant.

Darkness cannot extinguish what God has lit.

So I speak over your mind: peace is returning.

I speak over your heart: strength is returning.

I speak over your soul: hope is rising again.

I speak over your hands: obedience is becoming easier.

I speak over your future: God’s purpose will stand.

You are not stuck. You are not doomed. You are not forgotten.

You are being formed.

And one day you will look back and realize that what you called “hidden” was holy. What you called “delay” was preparation. What you called “silence” was not absence—it was precision. You’re going to see that God was doing more than answering prayers—He was building a person who could carry the answers without losing Him.

Declarations

I declare that I will not interpret silence as absence—God is working behind the scenes.

I declare that I will not bury my hope while heaven is still building my future.

I declare that the Lord sees the beginning from the end, and the outcome is already known to Him—He is not frightened by my process.

I declare that God has called me to holiness, and I will not make peace with what God calls unclean.

I declare that holiness will not be built by legalistic striving, but by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in a surrendered life.

I declare that I will not try to perfect in the flesh what God began in the Spirit—I will live by dependence, not performance.

I declare that Christ is being formed in me behind the scenes, and the allowing of this process will produce lasting fruit.

I declare that all things are working together for my good because I love God and I am called according to His purpose.

I declare that opposition will not cancel destiny—God’s perfect plan will be achieved.

I declare that I will not give up—my story will not end in the valley; it will end in victory.

Much love.