Have you ever heard of anyone being greatly used by Christ who did not experience a special time of waiting, or a complete upset of their plans at first?Once when I thought the door was being thrown open for me to enter the literary field with a great opportunity, it was just as quickly shut. My doctor stepped in and simply said, "Never! You must choose between writing and living, for you cannot do both." The year was 1860, and I did not come out of the shell of my isolation with my Ministry of Song until 1869. By then I saw the distinct wisdom of having been kept waiting nine years in the shade.
God's love is unchangeable, and He is just as loving, even when we do not see or feel it. And His love and His sovereignty are equal and universal. Therefore He often withholds our enjoyment and awareness of our progress, because He knows what will actually ripen and further His work in us.
~Frances Ridley Havergal