The Everyday Guide to Waiting on the Lord

“Everything comes to him who waits — provided he knows what he is waiting for.”
— Woodrow Wilson

“To wait is not to sit with folded hands, but to learn to do what we are told.”
— Oswald Chambers

Less than 2 months after a global shutdown, we opened the gates for the summer.

Every moment of 2020 felt like a threat hiding behind each phone call, text, knock at the office door.

I was in a state of constant bracing for impact. I was waiting, but it wasn’t peaceful or very productive.

Waiting in worry. Waiting for the next crisis to land in my lap. Waiting with my shoulders in my ears and my soul on edge.

We made it through those 3 months and I was in desperate need of rest.

In early September, Lace and I flew up to Whitefish, Montana and spent a week outside Glacier National Park.

A few days in, we planned a long hike at the top of the park. We ended up going just under 20 miles in a hike that took all day. I was incredible.

For 10 hours, every step was filled with wonder. Every turn around the trail held the possibility of breathtaking beauty.

Hour after hour, we kept asking each other, “Is this the turn where we’ll finally see the glacier? Is this the ridge with that jaw-dropping view?”

But here’s the funny thing: I don’t remember much about the glacier itself.

What I remember are the scenes along the way. You see where I’m going here…

The destination mattered, of course. But the journey is what shaped us.

I think this is a helpful picture of what it means to wait on the Lord.

Yes, the purpose of the journey is to reach the destination.

Yet the purpose of waiting is to get more of the Lord along the way.

Waiting on the Lord is the active, hopeful posture of trusting God’s timing, wisdom, and character — and choosing obedience along the way, even when it seems nothing is happening.

Waiting on the Lord looks different for each of us, but all of us experience the feelings at some point:

Longing for an Answer: When your prayers feel like they’re bouncing off the ceiling.

Pining for Relief: When pressure is squeezing us financially, emotionally, relationally.

Needing a Rescue: When you’re at the end of yourself and it feels like something has to break.

At this point we have to ask ourself a hard but honest question: In my waiting, am I focused more (waiting) on the provision — or the Provider?

Waiting is a central theme for God’s people throughout Scripture. It’s not secondary and it’s not avoidable.

Those who follow Him have always been people who wait. And God never frames waiting as punishment—but as formation.

Waiting isn’t passive. Waiting is active trust.

Waiting is God’s gentle way of asking: “Will you trust My timing or your own? And what will You do in the midst of it?”

It’s where faith either grows or diminishes — because it exposes what we really believe about who God is.

God uses waiting to change us. But we must agree to partner with Him in the growth. How it changes us depends on our perspective.

Waiting grows our faith…or shrinks it. It reveals whether we trust God — or our timelines.

Waiting extends our hope…or squeezes us dry. Hope expands or erodes based on what we believe about God’s character.

Waiting corrects our theology…or warps it. We either end up with a bigger God who is faithful…or a smaller god we’re disappointed in.

The opposite of waiting on the Lord is rushing ahead in self-reliance — acting from fear, impatience, or control rather than trust.

It’s a heart posture that says, “If You doesn’t move fast enough, I will.”

Stop numbing, rushing, or forcing what looks like progress.
Psalm 46:10 — “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Turn prayer from obligation into oxygen.
Psalm 105:4 — “Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually.”

Release outcomes, timelines, and imagined solutions.
Proverbs 3:5–6 — “Trust in the Lord… and He will make straight your paths.”

Obedience today is the soil of clarity tomorrow.
Galatians 6:9 — “Let us not grow weary of doing good…”

Community keeps hope alive when yours feels thin.
Hebrews 10:24–25 — “…encouraging one another…”

We want to grow. And some fruit only grows in the slow soil of seeming delay:

God often does His deepest work in the seasons of longest waiting.

And sometimes the Lord is protecting us from something or someone by delaying what we’re asking for.

Waiting doesn’t just change your circumstances. Waiting changes you.

The future you will thank God for the chiseling, stretching, reshaping work He’s doing right now when you feel most unsure.

Because in the end, the purpose of the waiting is not simply to get what you asked for.

The purpose of the waiting is to get more of the Lord.

So keep walking. Keep trusting. Keep hoping that more of Him will be around the next turn.

When it comes to a solution, relief, the provision — you may be closer than you think.

I’d bet 100% of you who’ve read this far have also seen the "The 7-Day Family Reset.”

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Love to you all.

Tyler, Texas | November 16, 2025

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