How to Wait for God

Waiting is a huge part of life.  It would be interesting if someone calculated what percentage of the average person’s time is spent waiting.  We wait for traffic lights, doctors, spouses, mail, and many other things.  Most of us, probably all of us, don’t like to wait.

However, waiting is a significant concept in the scriptures. 

Waiting for Messiah

From the very beginning, in the garden of Eden, God promised a Messiah, a Savior (Gen. 3:16).  The fulfillment came after thousands of years of waiting.

The Lord warned Noah of the flood, then spent 100 years building the ark and waiting.

God promised Abraham the land of Canaan, and his descendants waited 500 years to receive it.  

The promise to David of the Messiah coming from his descendants was about 1,000 years in coming.

The disciples thought Jesus was coming back in their lifetimes (every generation should think and live that way!)  We are still waiting 2,000 years later.

Twiddling Thumbs

Ever heard the term “thumb twiddling”?  It means not having anything to do and waiting passively for something to happen.   Biblical waiting is not twiddling our thumbs, watching more TV, etc.  Let’s look at some principles of how we wait.

Active Waiting

Isaiah sums up biblical waiting in chapter 40 verse 31: those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

Other translations of this verse use “hope”, “trust”, “expect”, “look for” instead of “wait”.  It’s an expression of faith and absolute reliance on the Lord.  We know that God’s timing is perfect, and he will bring us what we need at the right time.  Notice that he gives us strength to walk, run, even fly (figuratively), doing ministry, serving the Lord, when we wait for Him.  This is active waiting, not passive thumb twiddling.

The following scriptures shed additional light on how we wait. 

Ps 37:7 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him

Ps 37:34 Wait for the Lord and keep His way, And He will exalt you to inherit the land

Ps 106:13 They quickly forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel,  

Lam 3:25-26 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, To the person who seeks Him.  It is good that he waits silently For the salvation of the Lord. 

We Rest

We rest in him.  As Hebrews 4:10 puts it, “whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his”.  We keep His way, doing His works in His strength from a place of rest in what He has done for us.  We wait for his counsel, listen for his voice.  And we seek Him!

We Prepare

During the exile, Jeremiah wrote to the exiles at the beginning of their 70 year captivity in Babylon.  While they waited, he told them to be active, to live life, to build houses, raise families, and also to seek the good of their community.  He also gave this Word from God, found in Jer. 29:13-14 “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.“

Matthew 25 – the ultimate wait for Jesus’ return!

Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 24 about the signs of His return, and he told them to be alert, and to be prepared!  In other words, active waiting.

If we are expecting house guests, we wait, but while we wait, we get ready.  We prepare, clean the house, plan the menu, do whatever we need to do before they arrive.  Jesus gives three parables as examples of waiting for Him in Matthew 25.

25:1-13, the ten virgins – five were prepared and carried oil, five were “thumb twiddlers” and couldn’t enter the wedding feast.  

25:14-30, the talents.  Three servants received talents.  The two with more talents actively invested.  The servant who only received one talent “twiddled his thumbs”, buried it, and was rebuked by the master.

25:31-46, the sheep and the goats.  The sheep actively ministered to those around them (Jesus in disguise), but the goats did nothing (twiddled their thumbs) and were shut out of eternal life.  

In all of these parables, the active waiters were rewarded.

God Also Wait

He waited for his people to turn wholeheartedly to Him for centuries before He finally allowed Jerusalem to be destroyed and his people to be exiled.  

He waited for “the fullness of time” to come before He sent His Son.  For conditions to be just right for the spread of the Good News. (Galatians 4:4)

2 Peter 3

In this chapter, Peter discusses the delay in Jesus’ return.  His major point is that God is waiting!  He is patient, wanting all to come to repentance until His return.  He also instructs us in verse 12 to “wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God”.  We are to live “lives of holiness and godliness” (verse 11), and “without spot or blemish, and at peace (verse 14).

Now God is waiting for us, His people, to “hasten His coming” by living for him, making disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19), giving everyone the opportunity to repent and turn to God.  

While we wait, be active.  Do His work.  He is waiting for us!  In His time, He will come!

Related articles:

Waiting – written shortly after the pandemic began in 2020.

Jesus is Coming Back! – a lengthy article on Jesus’ return.