Matthew 20:16 – “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
There’s this heavy, low-grade ache that sneaks up on you in your twenties. It shows up quietly at bridal showers, during promotion announcements, or when your college school friend posts her baby bump photo and you’re still trying to figure out how to fold a fitted sheet.
It sounds like this: “I should be farther along by now.”
Maybe it’s your career. Maybe it’s relationships. Maybe it’s just life in general feeling like a blurry slideshow of everyone else’s milestones while you’re stuck buffering.
And listen, I get it. I’ve been there. There’s nothing like scrolling through someone else’s glow-up while sitting there eating cereal for dinner and wondering if you missed the part where life was supposed to click.
Comparison is a ruthless thief and our current culture doesn’t help.
The world hands us a timeline like it’s gospel:
Graduate by 22.
Dream job by 25.
Engaged with a dog and a wedding Pinterest board by 27.
If you’re not ahead, you’re behind.
If you’re not thriving, you’re failing.
But Jesus—He flips that entire narrative on its head.
In Matthew 20, He tells a story about workers hired at different hours of the day. Some started early in the morning, some at noon, and some just an hour before quitting time. But when payday came, the boss gave everyone the same reward.
Naturally, the early birds were ticked off. “We worked longer! We should get more!”
But the landowner replies (I’m paraphrasing here): “Didn’t I give you what I promised? Don’t I have the right to be generous?”
And then comes the mic drop:
“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” – Matthew 20:16
Jesus isn’t interested in our timelines. He’s interested in our hearts. The kingdom doesn’t run on LinkedIn promotions, relationship statuses, or highlight reels. Grace is not merit-based. It’s miracle-based.
If you’re the girl who feels behind—spiritually, relationally, professionally—here’s the good news of the gospel: you are not late to your life. God isn’t comparing your pace to anyone else’s.
He’s not rushing you.
He’s not disappointed.
He’s not holding a cosmic clipboard going, “Yikes, she’s way off schedule.”
He sees you. Right here. In the uncertainty. In the waiting. In the middle of figuring it out. And He calls it good work.
You’re being made into someone who knows what it means to trust God even when you can’t see where He’s taking you.
That’s not failure. That’s faith.
Here’s what I’m learning (sometimes the hard way):
1. God’s Not in a Hurry—Even If You Are.
He’s never late, and He’s never rushing you to keep up with someone else’s story. What looks like “nothing happening” on the outside is often sacred growth on the inside.
2. Delays Are Not Denials.
Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it won’t. And sometimes the things we think we need to “catch up” are the very things God’s protecting us from while He prepares us.
3. You Don’t Have to Earn What God Freely Gives.
You’re already loved. Already chosen. Already enough. You don’t have to hit some life milestone to be worthy of grace. You just have to receive it.
4. Your Story Doesn’t Have to Look Like Hers.
Seriously. Unfollow, mute, log out—whatever it takes to silence the pressure to compare. God isn’t writing a mass-produced plan. He’s writing yours.
So if you’re in a season where everything feels slow, foggy, or behind-the-curve, here’s the reminder you didn’t know you needed:
You are not behind.
You are not disqualified.
You are not forgotten.
You’re just in the middle of your own story. And the God who writes last-minute redemptions, impossible turnarounds, and wildly undeserved grace?
Yeah, He’s not done with you yet.
And He’s still in the business of turning “last” into “first.”
Hanna Rellar 