On Detours, Delays, and Divine Timing

 "He has made everything beautiful in its time. 

Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, 

yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end."

Ecclesiastes 3:11

In mathematics, we are often taught that the fastest way to go from one point to another is through a straight line. On paper, it works perfectly. In life, it rarely does. What we experience instead are corners, curves, pauses, and sometimes even breaks. When rejections come, when plans are delayed, and when life feels heavier than expected, our faith can quietly shake and our values can slowly loosen.

I have seen this play out many times in my own life. In my nearly four decades, I have brought many prayers and wishes to God. I prayed for a fulfilling life, a healthy and happy family, successful studies, blessed friends who walk with me through different seasons, a stable job, a life partner, the advocacies close to my heart, and many more hopes I carried quietly over the years. I cannot say that all of these were granted in the way I once imagined. Perhaps they were, but my human body and understanding could not always recognize them. Still, I know that God has blessed me far more than what I deserve.

There were seasons when this truth was challenging to accept. Waiting felt unfair and unnecessarily long. At times, I felt tired of hoping and quietly discouraged by how slow things seemed to move. What weighed me down most was not the waiting itself, but the uncertainty that came with it.

When waiting stretches on, it begins to affect more than our plans. Patience wears thin. Confidence softens. Even faith can feel quieter than before. Waiting has a way of doing that, not by breaking belief, but by testing how long we are willing to hold on without reassurance.

Scripture reminds us that waiting has always been part of the story of faith. Jesus spent many quiet years living an ordinary life before beginning His public ministry. Peter followed, failed, and waited before becoming the person he was called to be. Paul did not move into his mission right away; he lived through years of preparation before his work fully unfolded. Their journeys did not move fast. What came to them arrived when they were ready, not only to receive it but to carry it well.

We see the same pattern in people we recognize today. Pia Wurtzbach waited for years, faced rejection, and carried heavy expectations before finally standing on the Miss Universe stage and winning the coveted title. Hidilyn Diaz endured multiple setbacks and public doubt before winning the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medal, a moment later celebrated by an entire nation. The rise of SB19 also did not happen overnight. Before recognition came, there were long seasons of training, little attention, and moments when giving up would have been easier. Their journeys remind us that waiting is not wasted time. Often, it is where endurance is built and purpose becomes clearer.

God’s timing is hard to accept because it does not follow our clocks. We live by deadlines and expectations, while God seems to move more quietly. Delays can feel personal, as if we are being overlooked or forgotten. But with time, we begin to notice that some things needed to wait. Some versions of ourselves were not ready yet. Some blessings would not have made sense if they came earlier. What felt like delay may have been protection. What felt like silence may have been space to grow.

As I come to the end of 2025, I find myself receiving a quiet and unexpected gift from God, something I prayed for and waited on for a long time. I remain grateful, even as I acknowledge that there are still prayers unanswered, at least in the way my human understanding measures them. Yet I hold on to this truth. Every prayer is heard. Life may take detours and move through delays, but divine timing has a way of meeting us where we are.

Maybe the detours and delays were where faith was tested the most, when hope felt tired and trusting God became a daily choice.

[First Published: December 30, 2025]