Stuck or Held ?

I frequently hear people describe their lives with the same phrase: “I feel stuck.” They watch others moving forward, making plans, hearing from God, living with purpose—and yet they feel like they are just here. Waiting. Not going anywhere. God doesn’t seem to be answering their heartfelt prayers, and they begin to wonder if something is wrong with them… or if God isn’t listening at all.

I’ve heard variations of that sentiment from missionaries, pastors, counselors, parents, young adults, weary Christians of every kind. Something in us equates silence with abandonment and waiting with failure. If nothing is changing, we assume we’re the problem.

But Scripture promises again and again that God is always at work in our lives. And sometimes the image that comes to my mind is simple: a small child undone and exhausted by their own efforts—striving to move quickly, reach a goal, grab a toy, grasp something they believe will finally satisfy them. They push themselves until they simply plop down where they are.

They aren’t hurt. They’re just undone.

A loving parent doesn’t scold them for stopping or tell them to push harder. They don’t drag the child forward or shame them for collapsing. A caring parent bends down, scoops the child up, and holds them close. As the child leans into that comfort—crying, surrendering—their striving eases. They forget what felt so urgent moments before and rest in their parent’s embrace. To an outside observer it might look like the child is stuck or not moving. But they aren’t stuck at all. They’re being held under the watchful eye of someone who loves them.

Mindful of this truth, I often ask people: If you believe God is always at work in your life, what would it take to consider that maybe you’re not stuck at all? What if, instead, God has simply picked you up? What if this silence is not absence—but holding?

What if this season feels motionless to you not because nothing is happening, but because you’re no longer the one doing the moving? What if God is carrying you through something you can’t yet see, shielding you from something not yet ready, or preparing you in ways that only time can reveal?

Scripture anchors us to this hope:“I am continually with You; You hold my right hand” (Psalm 73:23).“Underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27).“You don’t understand what I’m doing now, but later you will” (John 13:7).

These are the words of a God who carries—never a God who abandons.

We often call ourselves stuck because we can’t measure movement. We can’t see progress or direction. But God never describes His people that way. Scripture is full of waiting that was not wasted, stillness that was not stagnation, and pauses that were not punishment but preparation.

Perhaps what we call stuck is actually God holding us long enough to heal something deep… or align something unseen… or protect us from a road not yet ready… or strengthen us for a calling not yet revealed.

Maybe His “not now” is not a rejection, but a rescue.

Maybe His silence is not distance, but closeness too deep for words.

Maybe the arms beneath us are moving even when we are not.

Maybe you are being held, not halted, Carried, not abandoned, Prepared, not forgotten.

What woud change if you believed you were being held and not halted ?

What would it look like to rest in God’s arms rather than strive for immediate answers?

What is one small way you can lean into being held this week?