7 Powerful Ways to Make Waiting on God Easier

Waiting on God can be soooo hard! But the good news is, there are some things you can do to make it less trying. Keep reading for some scriptures on how to wait on God and some things you can do to make the waiting time less difficult.

And I’m writing this as much for myself as anyone. I’m in life’s waiting room right now. And as a person who really, really likes moving forward with things, waiting upon the Lord is very frustrating and discouraging, especially when the waiting lasts longer than I think it should (as if I know best *eye roll*).

I find it relatively easy to have hope and faith in the beginning of the waiting period, but as the days stretch into weeks, and the weeks into months and even years, I begin to feel helpless and hopeless. To the point where I begin to pray that God would either take away my dreams or just make them happen already.

Whether or Not to Wait Upon the Lord

Another thing I struggle with is wondering if there is a step of faith I need to take to show God that my faith is serious in order to see Him work. An example of this in the Bible is when Joshua and the Israelites are finally about to enter the Promised Land. They had to literally step into the flooded Jordan River before God parted it for them (Joshua 3:15).

But then I think of how the course of history changed when Abraham took matters into his own hands (read the story of Abraham and Hagar in Genesis 16), and the fear of the consequences of not waiting on God causes me to freeze up.

Anyway, all of this thinking is leading me to search the Word for some real guidance on how to handle this waiting period and what I can do to keep my spirits up. I hope my findings help you when you need to know how to wait patiently on God.

Scriptures on Waiting on God

Here are some “wait on the Lord” verses from the Bible that illuminate how we should do it (all emphasis is mine).

“But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.” Romans 8:25

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalms 27:13-14

“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope.” Psalms 130:5

“I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait for Him.” Lamentations 3:24

“It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Lamentations 3:26

“I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in Him.” Psalms 40:1-3

“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” Psalms 5:3n

“But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” Micah 7:7

“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crops, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” James 5:7-8

“We wait in hope for the Lord, He is our help and our shield.” Psalms 33:20

What Does it Mean to Wait on the Lord?

To wait on the Lord means to put complete trust in Him. Waiting on God means to have faith that He will come through when the timing is perfect for His plans to unfold. Waiting on the Lord means expecting Him to move at any moment, no matter how many moments have passed since the beginning of the waiting period.

{Related – Surrendering to God: How You Can Do it Today!}

What to Do While Waiting on God

Do what you have already been told to do.

Whether it’s general, like following God’s commands of loving Him and loving people, or specific, like this blog is for me, be faithful in what you have already been given.

“To the faithful you show yourself faithful.”

2 Samuel 22:26a

I know doing the same stuff day in and day out can be a drag. Trust me, I know. But I also know that when I get up and stop feeling sorry for myself and do something for Him, I feel better. Sometimes that looks like loving on my kids. Sometimes it looks like taking care of the house He has blessed me with. Sometimes it looks like blogging. Whatever it looks like, it reminds me that when I am faithful to Him, He will be faithful to me.

“Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him.”

James 1:12

Waiting can be a trial, but a reward comes after the wait. For more on having joy though the trials, check out this post!

Understand that God might be using your waiting to grow you.

It could be that he’s deepening your faith, or maybe he’s using this time to teach you something more practical, like skills you’ll need once your breakthrough happens. Or perhaps He is giving you a stronger testimony so that you can boast all the more of His goodness and faithfulness after He has shown it to you. Perharps hardest of all, it could be that your motives don’t align with His character, and He is waiting for them to change before He gives you what you’ve been praying for (James 4:3).

Consider Elijah. He waited a long time (some say 3 years) for the miracle on Mt. Carmel. During his waiting, God supercharged Elijah’s faith by sending ravens and a widow, 2 of the most unlikely creatures, to feed him. God strengthened his testimony by protecting him from Jezebel’s murderous rage. God made it literally impossible for Elijah to not have faith in Him. Without all that waiting, his faith couldn’t have grown so strong that he would be able to call the fire of God down from heaven.

This oftentimes means that we need to be ok with being uncomfortable. We might have to sacrifice and get out of our comfort zone in order for God to change us from the inside out. Accepting it and not fighting it will lessen your discomfort considerably, so just go with it, if you can. Girl, I know. I know it’s hard. Like I said, these are lessons I’m learning myself right now, even as I write this.

It can be hard to believe that the obstacle you’re facing is not the end of the world. But, truly, it isn’t. If we allow ourselves to see that the obstacle is an opportunity for God to work in our lives and an opportunity for us to be a part of God’s plan, it is easier to have hope amidst the pressure and frustration of waiting.

Believe the unbelievable.

With God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). That means even things that don’t make sense in our human minds. It means even things that seem impossible. Faith is believing that God can do anything. So if you’re waiting on something that seems unbelievable or impossible, believe that God can make anything happen! And we should wait expecting God to surprise us.

In the scriptures about waiting above, a common theme is hope. When we have hope, we believe for what we cannot see, what we cannot understand, sometimes what we cannot even believe. And when we have hope in the Lord, He will sustain us through it all.

“…but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint.”

Isaiah 40:31

Now, that sounds like exactly what I need in the waiting rooms of life! I want to be able to be strong and not get tired of waiting. So I continually pray for renewed hope and keep on dreaming the impossible dreams.

Here’s another verse that links believing and receiving.

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11:24

Keep on praying.

It might seem like “praying” is a no brainer. But when you’ve been praying the same prayer for days, weeks, months, even years, sometimes you feel like quitting. Well, I do, at least. I feel like God doesn’t want to hear my “whining” or “begging” anymore. But His Word makes it clear that we should keep asking for the things we need and even want!

“Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”

Luke 18:1

The parable mentioned in the scripture above is about a widow who wouldn’t stop asking a judge for justice. For a while, he kept denying her request. Eventually, though, he gives in. Later in the story, Jesus says that God will not put us off forever. He only puts us off long enough to work everything out for our good.

And in the gospels, Jesus is recorded as saying, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” God wants us to ask! Because of this promise, we can…

{Related – “Waiting On God? 10 Scriptures to Pray While Waiting”}

Expect the best.

Isaiah 55:12-13 says, “You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands…This will be for the Lord’s renown, for an everlasting sign, that will endure forever.”

Sigh. I love the book of Isaiah. If you have a moment, might I suggest that you turn to Isaiah 55:8 and read to the end of the chapter?

If you do read more of the chapter, you will see that these things, the going out in joy and singing mountains, will happen when we allow the will of God to be done in our lives. When the word goes out from His mouth for us to move and we move, His will and purpose are done. And it is for His sake, His renown, that He does it this way. And it should be for His renown that we want to do it this way.

By waiting for the word to come from the mouth of the Lord before we act in our situation, we are showing the world that He is worthy of being known and that His solution to our problem is worth the wait, like it says in Psalms 40:1-3.

“I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in Him.”

Psalms 40:1-3

And if you need proof that it’s worth it to wait on the Lord, look no further than Ephesians 3:20-21, where it says that God does exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond what we could ask or think. If that doesn’t sound like the best, I don’t know what does!

Watch for ways He’s moving now.

God knows me so well, sometimes it amazes me. He knows when I’m at the end of my rope and when I need to see Him working. For example, we have been trying to get a business off the ground for the last year or so, and it’s been s-l-o-w. I don’t like slow. I like for things to keep moving, and quickly. But every once in a while, I get little reminders that in our waiting, God is working. He has continued to provide, for one. And then, when He can tell I’m going a little crazy in the waiting, He brings encouraging people in the industry into our lives and larger job opportunities to the table.

By recognizing and reminding myself of these smaller instances, it makes it easier for me to wait patiently on the Lord for those big breakthroughs. He is always working, even when it isn’t immediately obvious to us. But if we keep our eyes open, we will see the small bits of evidence that it’s true.

Speaking of “smaller instances,” I’m beginning to see that sometimes He works more like snowball than an avalanche. Know what I mean? Like, we have smaller breakthroughs that slowly build into bigger ones, like building a snowman. I think He knows that an avalanche might bury us, but we can see a snowball coming and be prepared for it.

Adjust your attitude.

Hopefully, putting into practice all the aforementioned ideas will help with this one. But in case you still need help leaving your pity party, here are a couple more tips that have been helping me lately.

Attitude of Gratitude

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, this one’s coming quite naturally to me at the moment. There are reminders to be grateful around every corner, and it is such a blessing. Reminding myself of all the things I already have to be thankful for is pulling me out of the funk caused by focusing on what I’m waiting for and don’t have yet.

Consider the Possibilities

When I’m feeling hopeless and helpless, it really helps me to think about all of the ways God might deliver my breakthrough. I am always careful to remember that He works in mysterious ways and that He could do it in a way that my human mind could never come up with, but dreaming about His goodness and faithfulness and what I think it might look like restores my hope and makes me excited about what the future holds again.

Benefits of Waiting Upon the Lord

In these Bible verses about waiting on God , we can find the following benefits of waiting on Him.

• God’s blessing and faithfulness.
• Personal and spiritual growth.
• Deeper faith and stronger hope.
• Closer relationship with God.
• Joy and peace.
• God giving abundantly and exceeding more than we could ever ask or think.
• God gets the glory!

The power of waiting on the Lord is that His will is done the way He wants it done, without interference from impatient humans like us. When He is in control of how His plan unfolds, more people are blessed in a more efficient way. His message is spread and His kingdom is built in exactly the way He needs it to be.

Waiting on God Summary

In summary, here’s a short list of what to do while you’re waiting on God to make His move.

• Do what you have already been told to do.
• Look for ways God might be trying to grow you.
• Believe the unbelievable.
• Keep on praying!
• Expect the best.
• Adjust your attitude.
  • Adopt an attitude of gratitude.
  • Consider the possibilities.

What’s your favorite thing to do to keep yourself going when you’re trying to wait patiently on God? Hop over to our Facebook group and tell us! You never know, your suggestion might be just what another sister in the waiting room needs to see!

Catch ya later!

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