Waiting Established on the Gospel
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart”
No matter what we’re waiting for, the process can be incredibly challenging. I’m the first to admit that patience is not my strongest virtue. For example, when we moved into our first home, I was eager to start renovating. One of the first projects on my list was to refinish the hardwood floors. I was determined to complete this task before we moved in because refinishing floors is notoriously messy. With only four days before the move, I felt pressed for time.
I raced to the store and gathered all the necessary supplies: a sander, stain, and polyurethane. I spent the first two days sanding the floors, which took longer than I had initially planned. On the third day, I stained the floors, and they looked fantastic. The final step was applying the polyurethane, but I was supposed to wait a full 24 hours before doing so. Given our tight schedule, I decided to start the polyurethane only 12 hours after staining, as the floors seemed dry enough.
“When we place our faith in His timing and purpose, our waiting can shift from frustration to hopeful anticipation—and we can truly embrace our wait.”
Unfortunately, my impatience led to a problem. As soon as I applied the polyurethane, a white residue began to appear. This was caused by the gas releasing from the stain because it hadn’t fully dried. The result was that we had to redo parts of the floor, and the final product was far from perfect. Reflecting on this, I realize that if I had embraced the waiting period, the outcome might have been much better.
Waiting for minor things, such as refinishing our floors, can be difficult enough. But waiting for more significant and meaningful outcomes is often even more challenging. During these times, we might find ourselves navigating through periods of mourning, feeling as though our hopes are slipping away and our dreams are fading.
When I think of waiting, Hannah’s story (1 Samuel 1-2) usually comes to mind. Hannah is a beautiful example of someone who had to wait for a long time. During her season of waiting, she experienced deep and heart-wrenching mourning. But you can also see her faith. In her darkest hours, she chose to trust God and exercise faith. Her wait was not easy, but the end was beautiful and full of God’s goodness. So, what does Hannah’s story teach us about letting our waiting be centered on the gospel?
We were Created to Wait (Creation)
Waiting isn’t necessarily a result of the Fall. In fact, we were created to wait on God. From the very beginning, humanity was designed to live in daily dependence on the Creator—trusting His voice, walking in step with His timing, and receiving His provision moment by moment. In Eden, there was no fear of delay, no anxiety over outcomes, and no striving to control the future. Waiting wasn’t burdensome—it was simply part of a trusting relationship with a faithful God.
God didn’t create us to be self-sufficient or to know all things in advance. He created us to walk with Him in step-by-step faith, to look to Him for direction, and to trust that His timing is always right. In that sense, waiting was never meant to be a punishment—it was a gift, a rhythm of life that kept us rooted in God’s presence and guided by His wisdom.
Even before sin entered the world, we see hints of this. Adam and Eve were called to tend the garden, to be fruitful, and to multiply—but they would not see the fullness of that fruit in an instant. They were given a purpose that would unfold over time, under God's direction. Their lives were meant to be shaped by a patient dependence on Him.
Our Brokeness in Waiting (Fall)
Waiting isn’t a result of the Fall, but sin has certainly made it much harder. In the perfection of Eden, waiting would have been marked by complete trust in God’s character, timing, and provision. There would have been no fear, no doubt, and no striving—just a quiet confidence in God's goodness. But after the Fall, everything changed. Now, waiting often brings out the restless and rebellious parts of our hearts.
Sin has created circumstances where even good, natural desires are delayed. In a broken world, things that should come easily—like meaningful relationships, health, justice, purpose, or even having children—are often withheld or postponed. We see this in Hannah’s story. Her longing for a child was not selfish or sinful; it was a good and godly desire. Yet she waited for years, feeling forgotten and misunderstood, because the world she lived in was marked by brokenness.
Sin doesn’t just make us wait longer—it also shapes how we wait. It causes us to forget God’s goodness and doubt His faithfulness. Instead of turning to Him, we can become bitter, disillusioned, or even depressed. Our unmet desires can tempt us to question if God truly sees us or cares.
Waiting can also expose our desire for control. Rather than surrendering the outcome to God, we often try to take matters into our own hands. We might force solutions, chase shortcuts, or compromise what we know is right. Deep down, sin whispers that God is holding out on us, that His timing is flawed, and that we must act to secure what we want. Instead of trusting, we strive. Instead of resting, we worry. Instead of running to God, we drift away. This is the deep effect of sin on the human heart—and waiting simply brings it to the surface.
The Fruit of Waiting (Redemption)
In a broken world, how are we supposed to approach seasons of waiting? Hannah’s story offers us incredible wisdom. It teaches us that waiting, while difficult, can also become a place of blessing and joy when we learn to embrace it with faith. David wisely wrote, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” Psalm 37:4 (NIV).
This kind of waiting isn’t passive. It’s not about sitting still and hoping for the best—it’s about choosing to delight in God, even when we don’t understand what He’s doing. It’s choosing to trust Him with our unmet desires, our disappointments, and our pain.
Waiting will only produce good fruit in our lives when we choose to depend on and delight in God in those seasons. That’s exactly what we see in Hannah. Her story doesn’t hide the hard parts—her tears, her sorrow, her deep longing. But instead of trying to fix everything on her own or letting bitterness take over, she brought her emotions honestly before God. She didn’t run from Him in her pain; she ran to Him. That’s the posture of a heart that trusts—even when it’s breaking.
And that’s where transformation begins. When we embrace our waiting rather than resist it, God begins to do the real work. He reshapes our desires, deepens our dependence, and aligns our hearts with His greater purposes.
Hannah’s desire to become a mother wasn’t wrong—it was a beautiful and God-given longing. But God had more in mind than simply fulfilling her personal hopes. He intended not only to bless her with a child but to raise up a prophet and leader through her son Samuel—someone who would shape the future of Israel. For that to happen, Hannah had to come to a place of full surrender. Her long, painful wait prepared her to release her son back to God completely—something she may not have done if motherhood had come easily.
Her waiting wasn't wasted. It prepared her heart for a role in a much larger story.
By choosing to trust God and delight in Him through the pain, Hannah didn’t just receive a son—she became part of God’s redemptive plan. Samuel went on to serve as a priest, prophet, judge, and military leader, guiding the people of God through one of the most significant transitions in Israel’s history.
And just like Hannah, when we find ourselves in seasons of waiting, we can trust that God is writing a bigger and better story. Waiting is often the means God uses to refine our hearts, deepen our faith, and prepare us for purposes we can't yet see. While the outcome may not look exactly like we imagined, it will bear good fruit—fruit that lasts. When we place our faith in His timing and purpose, our waiting can shift from frustration to hopeful anticipation—and we can truly embrace our wait.