When Growing Still Feels Like Standing Still

Some days I feel like I’m moving forward with God in big, obvious ways. And other days….I feel stuck. Not broken, not rebellious—just still. And for a long time, I thought that meant something was wrong with me.

But lately, God has been showing me this gentle truth: standing still is sometimes part of the growing.

We love the moments where progress is noticeable — doors opening, breakthroughs happening, answers arriving right on time. But what about the slow days? The quiet days? The days where nothing seems to be happening?

I’m learning those days matter just as much.

The Quiet Work God Does

Roots don’t grow on the surface. They grow down in the dark….unseen.

And that’s where God does some of his best work—in the quiet, unseen places of our lives. When we feel like nothing is changing, He’s strengthening something within us: our endurance, our trust, our maturity, our ability to wait without giving up.

Sometimes grace looks like movement. But sometimes Grace looks like being held still until we’re strong enough to take the next step.

The Pressure To Always Be “Doing”

We live in a world that celebrates progress you can see. New chapters, jobs, goals, achievements.

But God celebrates something deeper:who we are becoming.

Lately, I’ve been asking myself:

What if the stillness isn’t a setback?

What if it’s preparation?

What if God is slowing me down so He can grow something in me that can’t grow any other way?

When I look at it that way, the stillness feels more like formation than failure.

Grace For This Part of the Journey

If you’re in a season where you feel like you are not moving forward, let me encourage you: You are not behind. You are not forgotten. And you are definitely not done growing.

God sees every step, even the ones you don’t take.

He values every breath, even in the waiting. He wastes nothing—not the struggle, not the stillness, not the silence.

Growth isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s quiet, hidden, and slow. But it’s still growth.

And when God calls you forward again, you’ll realize that the stillness you resented was the very grace that strengthened you.

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for the proper time we will reap a harvest if we don’t give up.”

Galations 6:9