Waiting is one of the hardest assignments God gives us.
Not because waiting is complicated.
But because it strips us of the illusion of control.
We like movement. Progress. Momentum. We want to see evidence that something is happening.
Waiting feels different.
Waiting feels like silence.
Like stillness.
Like nothing is moving at all.
And that is exactly what makes it uncomfortable.
Years ago Bishop T.D. Jakes preached a message about waiting that stayed with me. He described waiting not as passivity but as service, like a waiter in a restaurant, attentive and ready to respond the moment something is needed.
That image reshaped how I thought about waiting.
But life eventually teaches another truth.
Sometimes waiting is not active at all.
Sometimes waiting is simply waiting.
Waiting Is Faith in Motion
“The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.” – .Lamentations 3:25–26 (NLT)
Waiting is not doing nothing.
Waiting is faithing.
It is believing that God knows where you are and what you need. It is trusting that He is present in every season, even the slow ones.
Sometimes waiting means continuing forward with the understanding that you have a green light until you clearly see a caution or stop sign.
But when that caution sign appears, many of us immediately turn the spotlight on ourselves.
Did I hear God wrong?
Did I make a mistake?
Where did I mess up?
Yet sometimes the signal isn’t a “No.”
Sometimes it is simply a “Not yet.”
When the Pace Slows Down
When things slow down or come to a halt, our instinct is often to push harder. To remove the roadblocks. To force progress.
But there are moments when the wiser response is to pause and look again.
If God is with you and something has slowed down, it may be an invitation to reconsider what you are seeing.
What might He be asking you to notice?
What detail might you have missed?
Recently, one of my adopted daughters was feeling anxious about launching a new product for her business. She was worried because the timeline she had planned was starting to slip.
As we talked through the situation, I encouraged her to slow down and ask for more clarity from the supplier she was working with.
At first, that felt like falling behind.
But that pause changed everything.
Instead of rushing forward, she took a moment to review what the supplier was requesting. The more she examined the situation, the clearer it became that something had changed.
After doing some additional research, we realised the supplier was no longer in a position to produce the product. In fact, they may have been prepared to take her payment without the ability to deliver.
What felt like a frustrating delay had actually protected her from a costly mistake.
Sometimes waiting isn’t a setback.
Sometimes it’s protection.
Learning to Wait Well
Learning to wait well has taken decades. And if I’m honest, I’m still learning.
But over time I’ve realised something important.
Waiting does not weaken faith.
It reveals it.
Anyone can move forward when the path is clear. Faith is tested when the road slows down and you cannot see what comes next.
In those moments you have a choice. You can panic and try to force progress, or you can trust that God is still at work even when you cannot see the movement.
That kind of trust is where fearless living begins.
Not in constant action.
But in the willingness to wait when God says wait.
