How to Find Joy in the Waiting

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Waiting—no one enjoys waiting.

As a child, do you remember the family road trips where you spent the majority of the journey asking the proverbial question, “Are we there yet?” In your teen years, did you ever speak (or shout) the words, “I can’t wait until I’m 18 because when I am an adult, no one is going to tell me what to do!” And then you get to college and find yourself complaining throughout those many late-night study sessions that you cannot wait until this is over. You just want to graduate, get a job, and start living your life.

Or perhaps you’ve just started a new job, and you’re already seeking the next step in your career. Sound familiar? As much as waiting is an everyday occurrence, the majority of us grumble and struggle through these moments or seasons of waiting. We do not enjoy waiting. And the truth of the matter is, we all go through waiting seasons at one time or another – in fact, all of life could be viewed as one waiting season or another.

The Weight of the Wait

Knowing life can be one big wait, we should not be surprised by the “weight of the wait.” Why? Because much of our lives will be spent waiting for something. Take a moment and think this through. What are you waiting for today? I am waiting for God to show up and conquer the coronavirus. I am waiting for a few responses to the email follow-up. I am waiting for a package from Amazon. And, I am waiting for my husband to arrive home from work. No, he does not have the good fortune to WFH, so please keep his safety in your prayers.

So, as you can see, it’s certainly to our benefit that we embrace the wait. If not, we may open ourselves up to frustration and discontentment. We must learn how to make the best use of our time while we wait. Let’s not look back on our lives and realize we’ve squandered precious moments because we could not embrace the wait, and we were always looking for the next best thing. Let’s enjoy the present and take the weight off the wait!

How to Find Joy in the Waiting

How do we find joy in the waiting, and how can we take advantage of our seasons of waiting? The answer may sound too simple, but it’s true, nonetheless.

“Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” Psalm 27:14 NKJV

As the psalmist writes, the answer to navigating seasons of waiting is to focus on God. Waiting must be reframed as waiting on the Lord. We aren’t just waiting for that promotion, a relationship to blossom, or graduation day. We are waiting on the Lord. He is in control; the whole world is in His hands. Therefore, we must submit to His timing.

It will be okay. You will be okay. God never fails, and He is never late. He knows the plans He has for us. Plans to prosper us and not harm us. His timing may not be our timing, but it is His perfect timing.

Be of Good Courage

I’ll confess, with the state of the world at this present time, I am doing all I can to sit tight and wait. The old me wants to run ahead of God. I want to solve problems and make things happen in my own strength. And, my friends, this is not what I should be thinking! I need to wait on the Lord and be of good courage. I need to let go and let God work as I wait patiently for His direction. Right now, I’m like the terrified disciples in a panic, asking Jesus to calm the storm. And, how did Jesus respond? “He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’” Mark 4:40 NIV

Our part in the waiting is to be of good courage. We are commanded to trust in the Lord with all our hearts as we wait for Him to move. We are asked to put our faith in His perfection and trust that He is working all things for our good, even when we can’t see it. We are told to wait on Him. And we can be encouraged that, in the waiting, He will strengthen our hearts. When it all feels like too much to bear, and we start to get antsy, we call out to Him, and He calms and steadies us. God is ever-present, working it all out, and comforting us through it all.

Waiting with Confidence

The prophet Micah provides a vivid picture of waiting on the Lord during a challenging time. He lived in a time when evil was rampant, and godly people could not be found. The best people in those days were still “like a brier.” Bribes were accepted in court, the poor were neglected, and no one could be trusted—not even family members. But, amidst all of that, he proclaims this message of hope: “As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me” Micah 7:7 NLT.

Micah was waiting for deliverance from the evil days. He was waiting for God to make a move. Most of all, he was waiting for the promised Messiah to come into the world and redeem all people. It was a long time coming, and it would have been easy for Micah to give up. He could have taken matters into his own hands or become angry with God for not working fast enough. But instead, he looked to the Lord. He went to God alone for help and waited confidently. He trusted in the Lord’s purposes and put his faith in the God who heard him and would save him.

Finding Perfect Peace

If we were to mirror this, we would also find peace like no other. The prophet Isaiah prayed to the Lord, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you” (Isaiah 26:3, NLT). That is something we can hold onto as we wait. If we will but trust in God and fix our thoughts on Him (not our circumstances, our plans, or our disappointments), He will keep us in His perfect peace. God will calm the storms, but we need to do our part. We must fix our eyes upon Jesus. We must stop searching and seeking solutions in our own strength. We need to stop making our wait so challenging.

None of this is to say that waiting isn’t hard—it’s okay to admit that it is – I confessed that I’m not a champion at the waiting game. But I encourage you to share your heart with God. Talk to Him about your struggle with waiting and how hard it is to be patient. When you lay your cares and concerns at His feet, trust in His timing.

“The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Lamentations 3:25-26 NKJV

This week, I pray you will turn to God and the eternal hope He promises. No matter what life brings or doesn’t bring, let God be the delight of your soul. He’s in the waiting, and He makes it all worthwhile. Trust, believe, and receive.

You’ve got this!