Is forward progress slow or non-existent for you these days? Are you tired of waiting?

Have you been waiting for the promotion opportunity, but it hasn’t come? Are you unemployed for longer than you ever imagined, and the jobs you are looking for just aren’t out there? Or, if they are, is someone else being chosen?

Are you ready to leave your organization for a new position but can’t find the right one? Are you wrestling with these issues today, or have you experienced these feelings before?

We aren’t good at waiting, so while we wait, we think we must act. We start by examining ourselves, but that usually means asking: Is my resumé okay? How about my cover letters, one-page brochure, and interview preparations?

These “tools” for getting unstuck are good to look at, and sometimes they need some tweaking.

But we can place too much emphasis on them. Because there are so many views about these tools (everyone has an opinion), we can get stuck reacting to every new opinion we hear. That doesn’t help you.

Trust me, if there is a job that God has prepared for you, even a poorly written resumé won’t keep it from you.

Sometimes the delay we experience is God’s time to shape us or to prepare us for what’s next. If you’re unemployed—and I’ve had those long journeys—I think God wants us to rest our body and mind. He wants us to forget where we were so that when He calls us forward, we’re ready.

In our waiting, we need to examine our heart, our actions, and our relationship with Jesus Christ. Waiting is difficult because it brings up our flaws and our weaknesses. So, we avoid asking ourselves some tough questions, like:

• Have I offended someone?
• Is there a relationship I need to repair?
• Have my actions or my thoughts been inconsistent with what God wants for me?
• Am I holding on to something and not giving it over to God?
• Is my pride getting in the way?
• Am I spending time with God in his Word and in prayer?

If you haven’t completed a close self-examination (and not the resumé-cover letter kind), I encourage you to do so. You may find there’s nothing you’re doing that’s holding you back. But if there is, be sure to deal with it.

If it’s a relationship that needs to be repaired, repair it.

If you need time in prayer, pray.

If it’s sin, confess your sin and give it to God. When you do, he forgives and provides absolution for our sins.

Take some time to read all of Psalm 51. It’s David’s Psalm after Nathan confronted him regarding his adultery with Bathsheba and having her husband, David’s friend and loyal soldier, killed.

David knew that God could wipe away all his sins, and he would be as “white as snow.” He asked for something that we all should want when we confess and give something over to God:

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

(Psalm 51:10-12)

When you’re done fixing, dealing, or confessing what you’ve discovered, let it go. Move forward, knowing that God loves you and has great plans in store for you.