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When Will My Breakthrough Come?

One evening, in a quest to help my sister with her daughter, I offered to do my niece’s hair. My niece, at the time, was four, and she had beautiful long hair with tight coils. As gorgeous as her hair was, my niece couldn’t take much pulling or tugging on her head, which made any style a challenge. Here I was, dedicated to plaiting small braids, with pink, white, and purple beads laced through them.

My sister warned me of how much my niece hated getting her hair done. That morning, when my niece saw me, she said in her sweet high-pitched voice, “I don’t want to get my hair done,” her one last plea to hopefully get out of the commitment. As we started to do her hair, at first, she was able to hold her screaming. Silent tears streamed down her tiny face as she held onto the sides of her chair. I maneuvered as gently as I could through her tresses, but one hour in, that’s when the screaming started. For the rest of the hair commitment, she screamed consistently. As she cried, her brother, father, and mother tried to console her. She would quiet down for a moment, but quickly after a motivational hug, she would begin to bellow out again.

The most surprising part about this experience was what she did after I finally finished her braids. She walked up to the mirror and admired herself. She wiped off her tears and looked at how pretty her head of hair was, full of beautiful braids and beads. It was a sight to behold. Then her mother said, “She knows it’s going to be uncomfortable getting her hair done, but she also knows how she’s going to look afterward.”

I thought of this when we go through life’s trying moments. It can be so painful, and at times, we can wonder where God is in the midst of our situation. We wonder—when is this going to end? When will my breakthrough come? I remember several different moments when my niece asked me if I was done, and I had to encourage her that I would be done, but she had to wait. We are sometimes left in seasons of waiting. It can be difficult to see the end. Just like my niece didn’t know when her hair would be finished, sometimes we don’t know when God is going to fulfill a long-asked-for need. We don’t know when our change will come.

One thing we do know, however, is that change will occur. It might be painful in the meantime, but the ending is what really matters. After all the tears you’ve cried, you can be sure that you will not look the way you did once God is finished with you. The Bible says, “The pain that you’ve been feeling can’t compare to the joy that’s coming.” Romans 8:18. This means that even if what you’re facing is awful, it doesn’t compare to what God has planned for you. 1 Peter 1:6 says, “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while.”

God never said life would be easy. You will have moments where it seems that there is no change and no hope. But SURELY, the change will come, and it will be worth everything you went through. Just hold on to your hope. Whatever you’ve been through up until this point is only the setup. It’s taking you into a great season of destiny.

Reflection:

1. Recall a moment when a difficult situation or season made you better or stronger.
2. How are you thankful for this occurrence and the change it’s made in you?

Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

I know you have so much planned for me, and I know the difficulty I’m experiencing is nothing compared to what you have in store for me. Help me be patient in the wait.

In Jesus' name,