When Nothing Seems to Be Happening
By Kimberly Haar
Waiting.
It can be one of the most difficult places to be.
It’s the space between the prayer and the promise.
Between the asking and the answering.
Between what we had hoped for and what we currently hold.
These are the moments when you feel like you have done everything “right” – you’ve prayed, declared scripture, clung to hope with everything you have – and still, heaven feels silent.
Waiting can be the loneliest and seemingly never-ending season of all.
I understand that ache – because I’ve lived it.
MY SEASON OF SILENCE
Years ago, after surviving a traumatic assault and kidnapping by my ex-husband, my entire world came crashing down. In one night, everything changed. The new man I loved was critically injured. My body was in pain. My mind, in shock.
In the aftermath, I found myself doing what many of us do in times of crisis: I tried to maintain control. I prayed, of course, but if I’m honest, I also gave God a timeline and a plan of How He could fix this, expecting Him to follow it.
I convinced myself I was “trusting God,” but deep down, I wasn’t sure I could. I was scared to trust Him. How could He have allowed this to happen? What if He didn’t do what I asked? What if His plans were different than mine?
Instead of trusting, I began managing, controlling, and clinging tightly to the version of the story I wanted. I longed for my old life back – or at least a version that didn’t hurt so much.
Instead, God allowed a season of waiting.
I waited for healing to come to my heart and body.
I waited to feel whole again.
I waited for peace to replace my panic.
I waited for God to fix it.
But He didn’t move on my timeline.
And while it seemed like nothing was happening…God was doing something I couldn’t yet see.
THE SURRENDER I DIDN’T KNOW I NEEDED
In the silence, God was strengthening the unseen parts of my soul.
Teaching me how to release the life I thought I needed in order to receive the life He had planned.
I had to surrender the story I thought I wanted so I could receive the one He had prepared for me.
I had to surrender my expectations and dreams I had held so tightly.
I had to surrender my timeline, my plans, my future.
I didn’t see it at the time, but I had started to rewrite Jeremiah 29:11 in my own mind.
The true version says:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
In my heart, it had quietly become:
“For I know the plans I have for me – plans to give me what I want, when I want it, and how I want it.”
What a humbling realization.
WHEN TRUST BECOMES REAL
Real trust didn’t come when I finally got what I wanted.
It came when I finally let go and said, “Lord, I trust You” – and meant it.
That’s when things began to shift.
Not overnight, but little by little, peace began to seep back in where panic had once been.
Here’s what I’ve learned:
Surrender isn’t giving up. It’s giving over.
Surrender isn’t giving up. It’s giving over.
It’s saying, “God, I trust you with my dream, even if you reshape it, delay it, or completely rewrite it.”
If you find yourself in a season of waiting, I want to gently remind you:
Waiting doesn’t mean that God has forgotten you.
It doesn’t mean you are doing something wrong.
And it certainly doesn’t mean that nothing is happening.
Sometimes the most powerful work God does happen in the hidden places –
In your heart.
In your trust.
In your surrender.
A season of waiting is not a season of “wasting.”
And when you come out of this season (and you will!), you’ll see that something beautiful was growing all along.
So hold on.
Keep trusting.
Keep loosening your grip on how you thought life should go.
Because God is writing a story far deeper and more beautiful than anything you could have imagined.
And He’s not finished yet!
About Kimberly
Kimberly Haar is a licensed therapist, author, and speaker with nearly two decades of experience in trauma recovery, individual counseling, and marriage and family therapy. Known for her compassionate, faith-filled approach, Kimberly is passionate about helping others move from a place of pain into a life of purpose, healing, and wholeness.
Her message is one of deep hope and healing, reminding those who feel unseen or forgotten that their pain has not gone unnoticed and their story is far from over. Drawing from her own journey of restoration, Kimberly encourages others to embrace God’s love, trust His timing, and believe in the life-changing power of restoration.
She is the author of Healing from Life’s Deepest Hurts: Reclaiming Your Life After Grief, Loss, or Trauma – a book that invites readers to experience God’s presence in their pain and step into a new season of hope.