When the Wait Is the Wilderness
We walked into our biometrics appointment on November 24, 2025, believing this would be the day something shifted. Our bags were full of documents, passports, letters, and evidence. Our hearts were full of anticipation.
We had prayed.
We had fasted.
We had waited.
But almost immediately, everything started falling apart.
We couldn’t make the payment for the visa submission. Our bank and credit card companies kept flagging the transaction as fraud. Every time we attempted to process it online, the system would lock us out for forty-five minutes. We sat at the small desk in the temporary visa office setup, trying to get someone, anyone, to help. For five hours, we cycled through the same routine. Unlock the card.
Try again.
Watch it fail.
Wait.
It was like trying to cross a finish line that kept moving further away.
Finally, after a series of tense moments and one successful payment at a time, we made it through. Exhausted, we handed the team our carefully prepared packet of documents, but they told us we didn’t need them. They said the documents were unnecessary. Superfluous. Not required.
We left confused but obedient. If they said we didn’t need them, then surely the process would continue forward.
But this week, we received a message from the UK Visa and Immigration department stating that those documents were actually required after all. Our hearts dropped.
We were given very specific instructions. Only send the documents to a specific email address. Nothing else would be accepted.
So we did. But every single attempt was returned as undeliverable.
We checked. We double-checked. We Googled. We searched Reddit forums and watched walkthrough videos on YouTube. We tried other browsers. We even tried to message the server directly. Nothing worked. The message kept bouncing. Every time.
We tried to call their office. After waiting twenty minutes on an international call, the line disconnected. We tried again. Same thing. Again. Again.
We emailed their support inbox and received an auto-reply that said it could take up to five business days for a response. The problem is, we only have ten business days total before our submission deadline. December 15 is when a decision is supposed to be made. That is the day we were hoping to receive confirmation. Instead, we are still in limbo.
Waiting.
Hoping.
Praying.
It is hard to explain how painful it is to feel like you did everything right and still end up feeling like it does not matter. That no matter how prepared you are, something always slips through your fingers.
And I know it isn’t just us. This season of waiting, confusion, and helplessness is something so many people are walking through right now. We cry out for direction, for answers, for breakthrough. And instead, it feels like the heavens go quiet.
But that is not the end of our story. God shows his faithfulness and his protection so many times in scripture.
In Exodus 13, the Lord leads the Israelites out of Egypt. But Scripture says something profound:
“God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter.” Exodus 13:17
Instead, He took them the long way through the wilderness. A harder route. A slower one. A way filled with questions.
Why?
God said, ‘If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.’ Exodus 13:17
Sometimes the wilderness is not a punishment. Sometimes it is protection.
God anticipated their fears, their disappointment, their discouragement. He knew that they would lose heart and walk away from him, returning to what they’d known for so long, to the familiar.
To the safety of the world’s facade.
Even now, I believe He is protecting us from something we cannot yet see. Even in this administrative chaos and the silence from the system, God has not abandoned us.
“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14
This is not wasted time. This is wilderness time.
And the wilderness, as painful as it is, is often where God shows Himself most clearly.
This week, while the visa process has felt stuck, our church made a beautiful video about our family and our calling. Watching it brought tears to my eyes because it reminded me that even when it feels like the world is not listening, God still is. And He often speaks through the voices around us when our own hope has grown tired.
So we are finishing what we can. We are tying up loose ends. We are resting when we can. And we are believing that this delay is not the end of the story. It is just a hard middle.
To those who are stuck waiting right now, for whatever breakthrough you’ve been praying for, know this:
God has not changed His mind about you.
You are not forgotten. You are not invisible. You are not unwanted.
If you feel like you're in a wilderness, look around. That cloud by day and fire by night is still there. His presence has not left you. His provision is still coming.
And He is still faithful to deliver, in His time and by His will.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12
We are still hoping. Still praying. Still trusting.
Even here.
Even now.
Even in the wilderness.
—
Candice
Writer, Wanderer, Waiting in faith
