Sunday Sermon: What to Do While You Are Waiting on God
By: Minister Denise N. Fyffe
Waiting is one of those Christian lessons that sounds much easier when someone else is doing it. We can tell another person, “Wait on God. His timing is perfect.” Then our own answer is delayed, the door remains closed, the prayer seems unanswered and suddenly waiting becomes a much harder sermon to live than to preach.
I have experienced that tension myself. There have been situations where I worked toward something, reached what appeared to be the final stage and then encountered an unexpected delay. Your mind begins asking questions. Did I misunderstand God? Did I do something wrong? Is this denial? Is something happening that I cannot see?
One lesson I have had to learn repeatedly is that delay does not automatically mean denial. Sometimes God is working in us, around us and ahead of us while we are staring at a clock.
There are seasons when we must learn why the Lord may tarry and how to remain faithful while we wait.
Scripture Focus
Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the LORD!” (NKJV).
Biblical waiting is not passive hopelessness. It is expectant trust. We continue obeying God while refusing to abandon our confidence in Him simply because His timetable differs from ours.
Habakkuk 2:3 says of the vision, “Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (NKJV). The apparent contradiction is intentional.
From the human perspective it feels delayed. From God’s appointed perspective it will arrive at the proper time.
Abraham Had to Live Between Promise and Fulfillment
God promised Abraham that he would have an heir and descendants beyond number. His life became a long lesson in living by faith while waiting for God’s promise. Yet the fulfillment did not arrive immediately.
Years passed. Abraham and Sarah grew older, and the natural possibility of having a child became increasingly remote.
Genesis 15 records Abraham questioning God because he remained childless. Genesis 16 records the consequences of trying to produce the promise through human strategy when Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham.
Ishmael was born, but he was not the son through whom God intended to establish the covenant promise.
That is one danger of waiting: impatience can tempt us to manufacture what God told us to trust Him for.
Eventually Isaac was born. Romans 4:20–21 says Abraham “did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,” being fully convinced that God could perform what He promised (NKJV).
The waiting period was not evidence that God had forgotten His word.
Joseph’s Prison Was Not the End of His Story
Joseph’s story gives us another kind of waiting. He received dreams when he was young, but the road between the dream and fulfillment included betrayal by his brothers, slavery in Egypt, false accusation by Potiphar’s wife and imprisonment.
Then Joseph interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s chief butler and baker. Joseph specifically asked the butler to remember him when he was restored. But Genesis 40:23 says, “Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him” (NKJV).
Two full years passed before Pharaoh dreamed and the butler finally remembered Joseph.
Imagine those two years. Joseph had done the right thing. He had used his gift. He had helped someone. He had made a reasonable request. And still he waited.
But when the appointed moment arrived, God moved Joseph from prison to Pharaoh’s presence and then into national leadership. The years had not erased God’s purpose.
David Was Anointed Before He Was Appointed
David was anointed by Samuel in 1 Samuel 16, but he did not immediately sit on Israel’s throne. Between anointing and kingship came service, warfare, rejection and years of fleeing Saul.
David even had opportunities to kill Saul and accelerate his own path to the throne. Yet he refused to seize through unrighteousness what God had promised to give him in His time.
That is a lesson some of us need. Waiting on God includes refusing shortcuts that violate God’s character.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (NKJV). Not our time. His time.
What God May Be Doing While You Wait
Sometimes God uses waiting to prepare us for what we requested. We may be praying for greater responsibility while God is developing the character required to carry it.
We may be praying for a relationship while God is teaching us boundaries, forgiveness or maturity. We may be praying for ministry expansion while God is deepening our dependence upon Him.
Waiting can expose what is inside us. It reveals whether we trust God only when He moves quickly. It exposes impatience, fear, entitlement and our desire to control outcomes.
But waiting can also strengthen us. Isaiah 40:31 says, “But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles” (NKJV).
Waiting on God is not supposed to empty us permanently. Properly lived, it teaches us where renewed strength comes from.
I Have Had to Learn That Delay Is Not Always Denial
I have written before about reaching the latter stages of a goal and then receiving unexpected feedback that created delay. It was easy for worry to begin speaking. Yet the message that settled into my spirit was simple: delay does not mean denial.
That lesson changed how I looked at the situation. A delay can sometimes be protection. It can be preparation. It can reveal information we did not previously possess. It can position people and circumstances that are not yet ready.
You can read that earlier reflection in Delay Does Not Mean Denial. I have also written about Waiting Patiently for God’s Glory and Victory.
These are lessons I have not merely admired in Scripture; I have had to practice them.
What Should You Do While You Wait?
Continue doing what God has already made clear. If He told you to pray, pray. If He told you to prepare, prepare. If you need qualifications, study. If you need healing, seek appropriate care while praying. If you need employment, continue applying.
Waiting on God is not an excuse to abandon responsible action.
Guard your heart against bitterness. Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life” (NKJV).
Scripture acknowledges that prolonged waiting can hurt. Bring that hurt honestly before God instead of pretending you are unaffected.
Do not compare your timetable with someone else’s. Another person’s marriage, promotion, ministry growth, healing, house, child or opportunity is not evidence that God has forgotten you.
Comparison can turn somebody else’s testimony into your torment.
And keep worshipping. Psalm 130:5 says, “I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope” (NKJV). Anchor your expectation in God’s character and Word rather than a date you created for yourself.
Be Encouraged
If you are in a waiting season today, I know “just wait” may not feel comforting. Waiting can be exhausting. It can test your emotions and your faith.
But God has not become unfaithful because time has passed.
Joseph was still chosen in prison. David was still anointed while hiding from Saul. Abraham was still carrying a promise when his circumstances seemed to contradict it.
Romans 8:25 says, “But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance” (NKJV). Perseverance means we keep going.
So keep going. Keep praying. Keep learning. Keep preparing. Keep your character. Refuse the unrighteous shortcut. And when your heart becomes tired, tell God that too.
Continue Your Study
Continue with Delay Does Not Mean Denial, Waiting Patiently for God’s Glory and Victory, and How to Understand Why the Lord Tarries.
Waiting seasons are also character-building seasons. For structured biblical study in Christian character and surrendered living, explore Righteous Living 101A: Foundations of Christian Character through the RTCLM Academy for Christian Education.
Closing Prayer
Father, we bring before You every delayed prayer, every promise we are still waiting to see fulfilled and every heart that has become tired in the process.
You know how long each person has waited. You know the private tears, the questions and the moments when disappointment has made them wonder whether You have forgotten them.
Strengthen their hearts according to Psalm 27:14. Give them discernment to know what they should do while they wait. Protect them from shortcuts that would take them outside Your will.
Heal bitterness created by disappointment. Silence comparison and fear. Where preparation is needed, give discipline. Where patience is needed, give grace. Where a door should remain closed, help them trust You. Where the appointed time has come, let no enemy prevent what You have ordained.
Teach us to wait without wasting the waiting. Develop our character, deepen our prayer lives and make us more like Christ. We trust Your wisdom even when we do not understand Your timing.
In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.
The Invitation
Perhaps you have been waiting for your life to become perfect before coming to Jesus. Do not make salvation another delayed decision.
Second Corinthians 6:2 says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (NKJV). Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again. Through Him we can be forgiven and reconciled to God.
Repent of your sins. Confess Jesus Christ as Lord. Believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. If you have walked away from God, return today. Do not assume you will always have another convenient moment.
Be encouraged. Be bold. Answer the Call.
In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.
About the writer:
Minister Denise N. Fyffe is a devoted Christian, author, and servant of God, whose life is guided by her faith and values. Since accepting Jesus Christ at a young age, she has made it her mission to share her journey and knowledge of the Bible with others.
In addition to her passion for writing, Fyffe is actively involved in community outreach, Christian mentorship, and ministering the Word of God.