Waiting is one of the hardest parts of the faith journey. It stretches us. It questions our timelines. It tests our resolve. In a world that celebrates speed and quick results, delay can feel like a door slammed in the face. But the Scriptures tell a different story. In God’s hands, delay is not a waste. It is often preparation.
Abraham waited twenty five years from the time God promised him a son to the day Isaac was born. Genesis 12 marks the beginning of that promise, but it is not until Genesis 21 that it comes to pass. During that time, Abraham laughed. Sarah doubted. Yet God remained faithful.
Joseph was seventeen when he had dreams of greatness. He was thirty when Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt. In between, he was thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, falsely accused, and left in prison. But Genesis 50 verse 20 reveals the beauty in the delay: “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” The years of waiting were shaping the man who would save a nation.
Moses spent forty years in Midian tending sheep before God called him from the burning bush in Exodus 3. Those hidden years were not punishment. They were preparation for leading an entire people out of bondage.
David was anointed king in 1 Samuel 16 but did not ascend the throne until years later. He faced betrayal, exile, and constant threats from Saul. But the Psalms he wrote in the wilderness became songs of hope for generations. Psalm 40 verse 1 says, “I waited patiently for the Lord. He turned to me and heard my cry.”
Hannah’s delay in childbearing brought her to a point of desperate prayer. In 1 Samuel 1, she poured out her soul before the Lord. Her cry was not ignored. Samuel, the son born of her waiting, would become a prophet and judge over Israel.
Even the New Testament begins with waiting. Zechariah and Elizabeth, described as righteous and blameless in Luke 1, waited into old age for a child. God answered with John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah.
And Jesus Himself waited. Thirty years in obscurity before three years of public ministry. Often we want the spotlight quickly, but God is more interested in roots than reach. He builds in the quiet what He wants to last.
Waiting reveals where our hope is anchored. Romans 8 verse 25 says, “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” And Isaiah 40 verse 31 promises, “Those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength.”
Delay will ask you hard questions. Will you trust when it seems like God is silent? Will you keep praying when there is no sign? Will you still believe when the promise feels far?
Waiting is not passive. It is a posture. It is what we do with our minds, our mouths, and our hearts in the in-between. It is saying, “God, even if I do not see it yet, I know You are working.”
If you are wrestling with delay, you are not the first and you are not alone. You are in good company. The faithful have always waited. And the God who came through for them has not changed.
He sees. He remembers. He answers.
And in His time, He will.
