The love of God for us is so great, often far greater than what our eyes can perceive.

Recently, I’ve been having deep conversations with a friend who has truly become a sister to me. We talked about career, calling, and that uncomfortable feeling of being stuck: not learning enough in our current position, looking for opportunities to give more and use more of our skills, not seeing the fruit we expect. The feeling that we are not adding the value we believe we carry.

We both admitted it had become hard to see the Lord working in our favor in our current positions. We’ve been praying for something different, for change, clarity, movement. And when nothing seems to shift outwardly, discouragement can quietly settle in.

Then one morning, she reached out to me.

She shared the results of her annual evaluation at work. The comments from her supervisors were remarkable. They revealed strengths she had never noticed in herself and impact she didn’t realize she was making.

As I read those words, something stirred deeply in my heart.

This wasn’t just encouragement from people. It was the Lord saying, “I see you. I am working.”

And in that moment, it wasn’t only for her, it was also for me.

God used her story to remind me that even when I don’t see progress, even when everything feels stagnant, He is still at work. Not only in the natural, but in places I can’t see: in conversations I’m not present for, in skills being shaped, in doors being quietly prepared.

That moment also brought back something my father used to tell me often:

After graduating from high school, I enrolled in a university program that I eventually had to stop midway through the academic year. It simply didn’t align with what I was searching for. At the time, it felt like a failure, an interruption rather than a step forward.

Later, I had the opportunity to train as a radio host and began working at a radio station. It was a volunteer position, unpaid, and if I’m honest, there came a point when I felt it was a waste of time. I knew radio was not what I wanted to do with my life. Yet my father’s words stayed with me.

What I couldn’t see then was that God was working quietly, using that season to shape how I think, listen, communicate, and respond.

Years later, when I took an entrance exam for a highly sought-after school, I passed the written portion and was invited to an oral examination. When the questions were presented, I realized I didn’t actually have the answers.

But I did have something else.

Without even thinking about it, I relied on the journalistic strategies I had learned during my radio training; how to analyze a question, structure a response, think critically, and communicate clearly.

After the interview, the jury told me:

In that moment, it was undeniable. What I had once considered wasted time became the very tool God used to open a door.

Nothing was wasted.

• Where in your life do you currently feel stuck or stagnant?
• Are there skills, seasons, or experiences you’ve labeled as “wasted” that God may still be using?
• What might God be forming in you behind the scenes, even if you don’t see immediate results?
• When discouragement rises, do you tend to measure progress by visible outcomes rather than by faithfulness?
• How would your perspective change if you truly believed that nothing you learn in God’s hands is ever wasted?