Waiting is commanded in the Bible. Listen to Psalm 27. The end of the psalm says this: “I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. So wait for the Lord. Be strong. Let your heart take courage. Wait for the Lord.”

Focus on Who God Is

Waiting on God is important and it’s hard. Let’s start with why it’s hard. Waiting is just hard in general because it surfaces our lack of control. Whether it’s a delay or a lack of information or uncertainty, waiting puts us into a gap moment. And quite frankly, it reminds us that we’re human, that there are limitations. We’re not all-knowing. We’re not all-present. We’re not all-powerful.

So whenever we’re in a situation where we are required to wait, there’s a tension that’s a part of it. And here’s the thing: the Bible recognizes this tension. In Psalm 69 it says, “my eye grows dim while waiting for the Lord.” The Bible identifies that waiting is hard. It can be very difficult. And yet at the same time, there’s also a promise connected to waiting. There’s something really good in it. In fact, one of the words for “wait” is kavah, and the root of it means a chord that’s twisted and tense.

And so in the Bible, what’s interesting is that waiting, hope, and tension all go together. This idea that it’s hard is central to what waiting really is. That doesn’t mean that it’s bad; it just means that it’s an opportunity in that gap moment for God to fill that space.

So, why is it so important? It’s important because those hard moments are the moments when God can step in. There are promises about what it means to wait upon God. And what that means is when you don’t know what’s true about your life, you can focus on what you know is true about God. And that’s the moment that waiting presents—the opportunity to learn to live on what I know is true about God when I don’t know what’s true about my life.

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