Waiting is hard.
Especially when you've prayed about something, trusted God with it, and still don't know what's going to happen.
We want answers.
We want direction.
We want to know when.
And if we're honest, sometimes we just want God to show us the entire plan so we can stop worrying about it.
But one thing I've learned throughout different seasons of my life is this:
Just because things feel slow doesn't mean God isn't working.
Sometimes we can become so focused on getting through the waiting period that we miss what God may be doing inthe waiting period.
Maybe the question isn't only:
“God, when is this going to happen?”
Maybe it's also:
“God, how can I draw closer to You while I wait?”
Trusting God When You Don't Understand
Proverbs 3:5–6 tells us:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”
I love this Scripture because it doesn't say we'll always understand.
It tells us what to do when we don't understand:
Trust God.
That's where faith becomes real.
It's easy to say we trust God's plan when His plan looks like ours.
It's harder when the timeline stretches longer than we expected.
When the prayer hasn't been answered the way we hoped.
When the opportunity hasn't come.
When we don't know what the next season looks like.
That's when we have a choice.
We can allow uncertainty to fill us with worry.
Or we can allow uncertainty to push us closer to God.
Don't Waste the Waiting by Worrying
Waiting and worrying can easily become connected.
We start asking:
What if this doesn't happen?
What if I'm making the wrong decision?
What if I'm falling behind?
What if God's plan looks different than mine?
Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6:34:
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.”
God isn't asking us to carry tomorrow today.
He's asking us to trust Him today.
That doesn't mean we never plan or think about the future.
It means we don't allow a future we can't control to steal the peace God wants us to experience with Him right now.
Sometimes we're so busy asking God for the next thing that we miss His presence in the thing we're living through today.
The Waiting Period Can Draw You Closer to God
What if waiting isn't empty space between where you are and where you want to be?
What if it's an invitation?
An invitation to pray more.
To spend more time in God's Word.
To listen.
To surrender.
To depend on Him differently.
To know God for who He is, not only for what we're asking Him to do.
Psalm 46:10 says:
“Be still, and know that I am God.”
Sometimes being still is uncomfortable because we want movement.
We want answers.
We want evidence that something is happening.
But there are seasons when God may be doing something deeper than changing our circumstances.
He may be changing us.
The waiting period can teach us patience.
Dependence.
Trust.
Surrender.
And a deeper relationship with God that we may never have developed if everything happened according to our schedule.
Waiting Doesn't Always Mean Standing Still
There's another lesson I've learned:
Trusting God's timing doesn't mean doing nothing.
Sometimes we're waiting for God to show us the entire path when He's already shown us the next step.
We don't always need to know what happens five steps from now.
We need to be obedient with what He's asking us to do today.
Maybe that's having a conversation.
Starting something.
Stopping something.
Serving somewhere.
Forgiving someone.
Opening your Bible.
Praying about something you've been trying to control yourself.
Or simply continuing faithfully with what God has already put in front of you.
We often want God to give us the complete map.
But sometimes He gives us one step.
And after we take that step, He shows us another.
You don't have to know where the next ten steps lead to be obedient with the step God has put in front of you.
Obedience While You Wait
Faith isn't only believing that God can do something.
Faith is trusting Him enough to follow Him when you don't know exactly where He's leading.
There may be times when obedience doesn't make complete sense to us.
That's why Proverbs tells us not to lean entirely on our own understanding.
We obey because we trust the One leading us.
And sometimes that means moving while we're still waiting.
You can wait on God's timing while continuing to grow.
You can wait while serving.
You can wait while preparing.
You can wait while praying.
You can wait while taking the next step He's placed in front of you.
Waiting on God and walking with God aren't opposites.
You can do both at the same time.
God's Timing Isn't Wasted Time
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says:
“He has made everything beautiful in its time.”
Our timing and God's timing won't always look the same.
And sometimes we won't understand why something took as long as it did.
But looking back, we may recognize things God was doing that we couldn't see at the time.
Maybe He was preparing us.
Redirecting us.
Protecting us.
Growing us.
Teaching us.
Or simply drawing us closer to Himself.
And sometimes we may never completely understand the reason for a particular season.
Faith isn't trusting God only when we eventually receive an explanation.
Faith is trusting His character even when we don't.
What Is God Doing in You While You Wait?
If you're in a waiting season right now, maybe instead of only asking:
“God, how much longer?”
Try asking:
“God, what do You want to teach me while I'm here?”
What if this season became one where you knew God more deeply than you did before?
What if instead of allowing worry to consume your thoughts, you used that energy to seek Him?
What if you stopped demanding the entire plan and simply became obedient with the next step?
You don't need to have everything figured out.
You don't need to know exactly how the story ends.
And you don't need to understand everything God is doing before you trust Him.
Draw closer to Him.
Be obedient with what's in front of you.
Take the next step He gives you.
And trust Him with the steps you can't see yet.
Because even when things feel slow...
God is still working.
And the waiting doesn't have to be wasted.
It can become one of the places where you learn to know Him most.
If someone came to mind while reading this, share it with them. They may be in a waiting season and need the reminder that God hasn't forgotten them.
Until next time, stay rooted in God's Word and stand strong in the Lord... with Lord & Armor.
