Waiting. It’s a universal experience, yet I’ve never heard anyone say, “Oh, I just love waiting!” Why? Because most of us don’t. Far from enjoying it, many of us dread waiting, as it stirs anxiety, restlessness, confusion, or even panic. Waiting is a shared human struggle, and it’s rare to find someone who’s truly mastered the art of waiting well. So, perhaps the best we can do is cultivate a mindset that helps us navigate waiting with grace, purpose, and trust.

To do this, we must first recognize that waiting is not inherently negative. As someone who often prays for patience, I’ve learned through countless lessons that waiting is where God works. It’s in these moments of pause that His ways — higher, better, and perfect — take shape in ways we may not understand. Waiting is often where God gently guides us toward the path He intends, molds us into the people He desires us to become, and aligns us with the purpose He has for our lives. We may not always see or feel His hand, but our inability to perceive God’s work doesn’t mean He’s idle. He is always at work, and daily embracing this truth is what fills our hearts with peace, contentment, and assurance.

Waiting is where God shapes us, refines us, and, most beautifully, sanctifies us. Too often, we view waiting as an obstacle, a frustrating delay that breeds vexation, impatience, and tunnel vision. In doing so, we lose sight of its purpose. When we let irritation consume us, we miss the beauty that waiting offers — the sacred opportunities to grow, learn, slow down, pray, and reflect. Instead of seizing these moments, we squander them, fretting over the wait itself.

When we obsess over a “right here, right now” mindset, we begin to demand an immediate, dramatic response from God — a clear and instantaneous act. Yet, in waiting, we’re reminded that sometimes God chooses to allow His will to unfold slowly like a flower in bloom. It’s in the waiting that God introduces us to people we never imagined meeting, opens doors to unexpected job opportunities, or brings life-changing news from friends or family. While we wait, feeling stuck ourselves, we frequently forget that the world keeps moving. God’s purposes continue to progress. Life, in all its richness, presses forward.

As C.S. Lewis once said, “I am sure that God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait.” Waiting is not wasted time; it is a divine appointment, a season of sanctification where God prepares us for what lies ahead. By embracing waiting with faith, we have peace as God works in us and through us, transforming delays into moments of eternal significance.

What if you’re waiting because God’s plan for you is, indeed, better than your own?

What if God hasn’t brought you a spouse because He’s tenderly teaching you to find your deepest joy in Him alone? What if He’s still shaping you — or your future partner — into vessels of His grace, ready to love for His glory? What if that unanswered job application is God’s gentle nudge toward a calling far beyond your wildest dreams? What if the delays and heartaches you mourn as setbacks are the very places where God is writing His perfect story for your life? What if, despite every doubt and fear, you are exactly where God intends you to be, cradled in the waiting by His sovereign, loving hands that cherish every single one of His children in every single moment?

You haven’t been overlooked. You haven’t been put to the side. Have you forgotten that Christ, God’s begotten and beloved Son, gave His life up for you? Passivity and indifference have no place in the vocabulary of God’s relentless, all-consuming love for His people. Even waiting, as agonizing as it can feel, is not meant to break you. It is a sacred invitation to lean wholly on Him — the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. In the stillness of waiting, we find rest. In the tension of delay, we discover His strength. In the ache of longing, we find His grace.

And you know what? Even if it does break you, as the Puritan preacher Thomas Watson once said, “A broken heart is God’s sacrifice, and God will not despise what He Himself requires. A broken heart is tender; it is like melting wax, and God can set His own stamp upon it. It is then that Christ is most precious, and the soul is most fit for heaven.” Likewise, theologian Richard Sibbes wrote, “The winter prepares the earth for the spring; so do sanctified afflictions prepare the soul for glory. A broken heart is the only meet temple for a crucified Christ.” In the breaking of our hearts through waiting, we’re softened, humbled, and drawn ever closer to the very Savior who bore all our sorrows on the cross.

And so, what does Scripture say? It sings hope into our waiting: “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31). It calls us to trust: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” (Psalm 37:7). It anchors us in hope: “For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:24-25).

Pause for a moment. What’s your heart saying about the wait you’re in right now? Is it clenched in frustration, demanding answers on your terms? Or is it open, trembling with faith, ready to receive what God is weaving in the quiet? Are you willing to wait, believing God has a good reason for it? Here’s how I’ve learned to see it: Waiting isn’t just a test — it’s a gift, a holy forge where your soul is shaped for eternity. Stop running from it. Stop resenting it. Instead, ask yourself: What is God whispering to me in this delay? How is He inviting me to trust Him more deeply, to love Him more fiercely, to become more like His Son?

Every moment you choose to strive to wait well — praying instead of panicking, trusting instead of doubting, worshiping instead of worrying — you’re stepping into the posture more in tune to sing God’s praise. You’re becoming more and more a vessel of His glory, a testimony of His faithfulness. So, rise up, weary heart, and embrace the wait with courage. Let it break you, if that’s God’s perfect will for your life. Pray it refines you and draws you closer to Christ. For in waiting, you will find not just God’s answers, but God Himself — and He is worth every tear, every longing, every moment.

He’s exceedingly worthy of our trust. We don’t have to understand His ways to trust Him, nor must we see what lies ahead to know that it has been established by a God who cares — who genuinly cares — and has promised to see His people through to the end. As Paul wrote, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

Here’s our mission: Don’t let waiting shatter into despair, but let it soar into worship. Pray, with fervent heart, that the Lord clasp your trembling hands in every moment — especially in the ache of waiting — guiding them heavenward in adoration. Perhaps you’re held in this pause because tomorrow is not promised, nor even the next breath. Perhaps, if nothing else, God has allowed this perceived delay to awaken your soul to what truly matters — not fleeting dreams or fragile timetables, but Him, the eternal King who reigns over every longing and every heart. If waiting unveils this truth — or any of God’s truth — then the waiting, dear reader, is good.

So, embrace this moment, whatever it holds, for it’s all you have. Be fully present, and fix your gaze on Christ, your eternal treasure, who holds you now and forevermore.