There is almost nothing I hate more in life than waiting.

If impatience were a spiritual gift, I’d be on a world tour lecturing about it.

I will drive longer distances just to avoid stop-and-go traffic.
I’ll leave a restaurant with a 30-minute wait and spend 45 minutes trying to find another one.
Waiting in lines? Miserable.
Doctor’s offices? The worst. You sit in the waiting room, get moved to another room, and start wondering if the doctor has forgotten you exist.

And maybe the most frustrating thing of all—watching your phone buffer.

That spinning wheel.
That frozen screen.
That moment when everything pauses and you’re left wondering if it’s ever going to load.

Sometimes life buffers too.

Good things feel like they’re coming… but not fast enough.
Dreams feel like they’re stuck loading.
Promises feel delayed.

And for many people, it’s not the pain that’s hardest—it’s the not knowing.

Not knowing when things will change.
Or if they ever will.

When Waiting Starts to Erode Faith

Waiting seasons have a way of messing with our mindset.

A job opportunity that almost works out… again and again.
A relationship that feels like it should be further along by now.
A marriage that hasn’t healed yet.
A prodigal who still hasn’t come home.
A diagnosis that hasn’t changed.
A prayer you’ve been praying for years with no update.

At first, faith doesn’t disappear.
It slowly erodes.

You still believe in God—but you stop expecting Him to do good things.

So you lower your expectations to protect yourself from disappointment.
Sometimes you even shift your goals altogether.
Distraction replaces discipleship.
Survival replaces surrender.

Waiting doesn’t kill faith—it exposes what we worship.

Do we want the hand of God…
or the heart of God?

What Waiting Is Actually Doing to Us

Neuroscience has discovered something fascinating: slow processes shape the brain more deeply than fast rewards.

Waiting strengthens impulse control, long-term thinking, and emotional stability.
Quick gratification trains the brain for anxiety, restlessness, and dissatisfaction.

Scripture and science agree on this truth:

Waiting exposes what we trust.
Waiting strengthens what we practice.
Waiting shapes who we become.

Isaiah says, “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.”

What if waiting isn’t what’s holding you back?
What if waiting is what’s positioning you for God’s promises?

Two People Who Lived in the Waiting Room

The Christmas story introduces us to two lesser-known figures—Simeon and Anna.

When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple after His birth, they encountered two people who had been waiting for decades.

Simeon was an old man who had been promised he wouldn’t die until he saw the Messiah.

Anna was a prophetess—widowed early in life—who spent decades worshiping, fasting, and praying in the temple. Scripture says, “She did not depart from the temple.”

When life took a wrong turn, Anna didn’t run from God.

She ran to God.

Her faith didn’t become occasional—it took up residence at the center of her life.

And because she stayed faithful in the waiting, she recognized Jesus the moment He arrived.

Simeon and Anna didn’t just witness the promise.
They became part of the story because of how they waited.

How to Win in Waiting Seasons

1. Choose Action Over Apathy

Waiting does not mean inactivity.

The prophet Habakkuk waited for God to restore His people, and God told him to write the vision and stay ready to run with it.

When God says “wait,” He’s not saying “do nothing.”
He’s saying, “Stay ready. Stay faithful. Stay obedient.”

The promise is not just a destination to arrive at—it’s a journey to live out.

God’s delays are not punishment; they are preparation.

Waiting stretches the soul so it can actually receive what God wants to give.

There are things God is working on that you can’t see yet.
Other people. Other circumstances. Other pieces of the story.

Waiting doesn’t mean nothing is happening.
It means God is working beyond your line of sight.

2. Choose Hope Over Frustration

Hope deferred makes the heart sick—but God rarely puts timestamps on promises.

We do.

And when we fixate on then, we lose joy now.

Jesus reminded His disciples that God holds not just chronos (minutes and days) but kairos—appointed moments and divine seasons.

If we trust God with the what, He can be trusted with the when.

Frustration is passively distrusting the future.
Hope is actively trusting God in the present.

Not now does not mean not ever.

If it’s not God’s time, you can’t force it.
And when it is God’s time, you can’t stop it.

3. Choose Faithfulness Over Escape

Anna was present when Jesus arrived because she never left.

She didn’t disengage.
She didn’t relocate her faith.
She didn’t quietly withdraw to protect herself from disappointment.

God blesses stayers.

Waiting is staying rooted—continuing to show up, worship, pray, and believe even when it feels like nothing is changing.

When you choose to wait on God, you position yourself to see God’s promises.

God Never Wastes a Waiting Season

God never wastes the waiting.

He uses it.
He forms us in it.
He does some of His deepest work in the dark—when prayers are still pending and promises feel delayed.

Waiting is where faith grows roots.
Waiting is where hope is purified.
Waiting is where strength is renewed.

Anna waited decades—and in that waiting, God didn’t just keep a promise.
He shaped a person who would recognize it when it arrived.

So if you’re waiting today—on a breakthrough, a healing, a restoration, a door to open—hear this clearly:

God is not ignoring you.
He is not punishing you.
And He is not finished with you.

God is preparing you for what you’re praying for, and preparing the promise to meet the person you’re becoming.

So don’t lose heart.
Don’t lower your hope.
Don’t uproot your faith.

Choose action over apathy.
Choose hope over frustration.
Choose faithfulness over escape.

God never wastes the waiting.