Surviving in a season of waiting, God is there, waiting with you...

If you’re in a season of waiting, this episode is for you. Linnea Scobey reminds us that God doesn’t disappear in the pause—He meets us there.

In this deeply moving episode, Linnea Scobey shares her journey of living in the waiting—those in-between moments where answers feel delayed, prayers seem unanswered, and life feels suspended between what was and what’s next. Through uncertainty, surrender, and quiet faith, Linnea discovered a powerful truth: God is not absent in the waiting—He is present, working, and preparing.

Linnea opens her heart about learning to trust God when clarity is missing, how faith deepens in stillness, and why waiting is not wasted time, but sacred ground. Her story is a reminder that even when life feels paused, God is actively shaping purpose, beauty, and strength within us.

This episode speaks to anyone navigating uncertainty, transition, heartbreak, or hope deferred—and longing for reassurance that they are not alone.

Because sometimes the waiting isn’t the delay…
it’s the invitation.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:05

This is Resilient Faith, a podcast from Brentwood Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, California. Here we believe resilience isn't about having all the answers. It's about showing up again and again with faith that endures. Each episode offers space for real stories and deep hope. So whether you're in the midst of a storm, standing at a crossroads, or finding peace in unexpected places, know that you are not alone. A God moment is an experience of profound connection with a higher power, often seen as divine intervention, guidance, or a moment of spiritual realization. Over the next few months, we will enjoy stories from some of our most beloved members here at BPC as they share their God moments. Enjoy.

SPEAKER_00: 1:01

Good morning. My name is Linnea Scobie. My husband, Nick, and I have been here about a year and a half, and I've enjoyed getting involved in the choir and the young adults group, and this morning I get to share a story from my life. So when I was 18 years old, I moved from West LA to West Michigan for college. And maybe if you've spent some time in the Midwest, you'd agree it's a different world from Southern California. Far from family and friends in this strange new place, I spent the first semester trying to make friends, experiencing significant culture shock, and wondering if I'd made a mistake moving across country, although I was so sure God had called me there. But it got much worse. In February, putting on makeup one morning, I noticed it was hard to move my lips normally. At breakfast in the dining hall, I couldn't taste my blueberry pancakes on one side of my tongue. My eye twitched uncontrollably all day, and by dinner time the right side of my face was completely paralyzed. I was diagnosed with a condition called Bell's palsy and told it should heal in three weeks to six months. In reality, healing would happen between six months and a year later, and it would never heal completely. Because I couldn't blink my right eye. I wore an eye patch during the day and used medical tape and gauze to close it at night. Now it's hard to make friends freshman year already, but when half of your face can't show emotion and you're the girl with the eye patch, forget about it. Even the few friends I had grew distant because they didn't know what to do with the suffering I was experiencing. And then the pain started. Excruciating nerve pain on the right side of my face. The first night I slept sitting up in the kitchen of our dorm so I wouldn't wake my roommate with my moans of pain. Thank God there was medication that helped the nerve pain. But there was no medicine for the profound loneliness and deep despair I felt on the inside. And yet, when everything else had been stripped away, one thing remained. God was still there. When I found myself at rock bottom, ready to give up, the rock beneath me was God, my firm foundation. When no one around me knew me or cared to know me, God knew and cared for me deeply and had held me through it all. When everything around me was changing, God's goodness, love, and presence were unchanging. I found voice for my suffering in the words of the Psalms and relied on God like I never had before, because God was truly all I had. And God was enough. There are countless stories in the Bible of people in a difficult period of waiting. Abraham and Sarah waiting for their promised child, Joseph imprisoned in Egypt, far from home, the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, Jonah in the belly of the whale, Noah on the bow of the ark, the disciples the day before the resurrection. In all these stories, we readers have the instant gratification of reading on to the next verse or chapter where things get better. But when you're living in the waiting, it seems endless. Things did get better for me, too, of course. I could tell you about all the seeds of hope that were planted in that season of despair. How I was first introduced to the Michigan neighborhood I would someday call home. How I first visited the church I would later call family. How I first met the man I would eventually marry, all while wearing the eye patch. But those are stories for another day. What I want to share today is simply this. Sometimes we find ourselves in an endless season of season of waiting or despair. And undoubtedly, God is there too. In fact, sometimes that's where we encounter God most profoundly. The living God who spun the galaxies and knit us together in the womb and is no stranger to suffering, is unfailingly faithful, unwaveringly good, and constantly with us. And that alone is reason enough to keep going.

SPEAKER_01: 5:38

Thanks for listening to Resilient Faith, a podcast from Brentwood Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, California. We're grateful to walk this journey with you. To connect with us, please visit us at bpcusa.org. And remember, your faith is stronger than you think, and you are never alone.