When Life Doesn’t Go According to Plan: Learning to Embrace the Pause.

There’s a pattern I’ve come to recognize in my life, one I used to meet with frustration, but now, more often, I meet with curiosity and prayer.

When things don’t go the way I expected, when a deal falls through, a call doesn’t come, a door refuses to open, I used to panic. I’d spiral into worry, stress, and a whole lot of self-blame.

But something has been shifting in me over the past year or two.

Now, instead of freaking out, I pause.

Just for a day or two. I breathe. I pray.

Why didn’t this happen? What is this pause protecting me from? What is it preparing me for?

I’ve started calling them divine pauses. Or sometimes, divine interruptions. They’re rarely convenient. And they’re not always gentle. But I believe they’re sacred.

Let me share a small but meaningful example.

I recently mailed a check from my account to pay a bill early, something I try to do when commissions come in, because in my line of work, paydays aren’t guaranteed every month. A few days later, that check was reversed to my account. No note. No explanation. The money was just … returned.

At first, I was annoyed. I had made the effort, and now it felt like wasted time. But then I paused. And I saw it differently. That returned check was a pause. And within a day or two, I understood why, I needed that money for something urgent that had unexpectedly come up. If the check hadn’t come back, I’d have been in a bind.

Another example: I’ve been wrestling with a decision to change companies. I called my current broker to ask how transferring a listing would work. I also reached out to the new broker I’m considering to ask about onboarding. Both are reputable, responsive companies. But strangely, three days passed… and no one returned my messages.

It was weird. But it felt like more than just a delay; it felt like another divine pause. And instead of charging ahead in frustration, I’m stopping to ask: God, what are You showing me here? Am I trying to move before you’ve cleared the way?

These moments have taught me that the pause doesn’t mean punishment or failure. It might be protection. It might be a provision. It might even be an invitation to look closer at what we’re doing, and more importantly, why.

I’m writing this not from a place of comfort, but from one of the tightest financial seasons of my life. Money is uncertain. Plans feel like sand shifting under my feet. And yet, especially now, I feel God whispering: Wait. Just wait a day or two. See what unfolds. Trust Me.

It’s not about pretending everything’s okay. It’s not about ignoring bills or deadlines or hard decisions. It’s about trusting that sometimes, the answer isn’t to push harder. Sometimes, it’s to pause.

Because sometimes… the pause is the provision.

Tamara Bernal April 2025