Faith begins with waiting. To believe in God is to accept His timing. Yet today’s faith has grown accustomed to speed. Speed is now seen as a sign of spiritual power. If we pray, there must be immediate answers. Worship must quickly move us. Transformation must happen fast to be considered genuine. If it’s slow, we doubt. If delayed, we give up. Waiting is treated as failure, thinning faith and making growth shallow.
God works in time. From creation, He set seasons and acts according to them. He doesn’t match our pace—He trains us to match His. Thus, faith always includes the process of waiting. God’s will is not revealed without it, and His people are not formed apart from it. Without learning to wait, even if we seek His will, we cannot carry it. Even if we hear His Word, we cannot dwell in it.
Abraham believed God’s promise, but it took 25 years to be fulfilled. In that wait, he had to learn trust and how to distinguish God’s plans from his own. Isaac was the fulfillment, but first came Abraham’s transformation. Faith grows not when the promise is fulfilled, but when we hold to God during the delay.
Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness before his calling. Once a prince of Egypt, God humbled him into an unknown shepherd. He, slow of speech, tried to reject his mission—but through waiting, he became one who no longer relied on self but only on God’s presence. Without that time, he might have led with strength, but God made him lead by presence. Waiting is not a time of task but of formation.
Even Jesus waited 30 years without performing a miracle or speaking a word. Though the Son of God, He did not act before the Father’s time. He guarded Himself in waiting, and only after it began His public ministry. God’s work always passes through waiting. His Word is not rushed. His answers are often delayed to reshape us.
Yet today, we fail to accept waiting. Long prayer without change leads to discouragement. Promises not quickly fulfilled are abandoned. Hasty faith draws conclusions before hearing God, following circumstances instead of the Spirit. Faith thins, roots weaken, and emotions become mistaken for faith. Without waiting, faith crumbles under reality. When worship, prayer, and the Word must yield fast results to matter, our trust shifts from God to speed.
Waiting is not merely passing time. It is the will to trust God and confess His sovereignty. It is the place that says, “Even if He doesn’t answer, He is still right.” An answer gained without waiting becomes an idol—we value results over God, even imagining we can imitate faith without Him.
Faith carries time. God uses time to humble, break, and rebuild us. It’s when our plans cease and His will takes root. His silence is not absence but deep work. The longer we pray, the purer our hearts. The longer we hold His Word, the more our lives are shaped by His image. Speed seems like transformation, but it skips the soul. God deals with essence only through slowness.
Waiting is training not to go ahead of God. To trust Him still when nothing happens—that is the core of faith. Those who pray though unanswered, hold the Word though unseen, and worship without miracles—through them God fulfills His timing. And that waiting is never in vain.
The church today has not lost power—it has lost waiting. Faith that doesn’t run ahead of God, that trusts and stays—must be restored. Only those who can wait walk with God. Speed leaves efficiency, but waiting leaves God. Faith grows from trust, not proof. And trust is only proven through waiting.
Waiting is not just a personal spiritual posture. It reveals a church’s spirituality and determines its direction. When churches become impatient, God’s will fades, and human plans take center. Ministries grow busy, souls grow dry. Worship looks full, yet inner lives crumble. Speed may draw fruit quickly, but it weakens the root. Churches that don’t wait cannot go deep. And shallow churches are easily shaken.
Many churches today use speed as a measure of growth—how many attend worship, how many serve, how many departments exist. But God never sees numbers as revival. He sees not how much we’ve gained but how well we can wait. A community that waits. Worship that lingers. Prayer that seeks His will before answers. This is the heart of a church responding to God’s call.
So it is with ministry. Many serve eagerly but resist waiting. Delayed results lead to fear, slow outcomes to disappointment, and lack of praise to discouragement. Yet God’s work is accomplished by Him. We are only to discern and obey His timing. His work calls not for zeal but for submission. Not for speed but inner posture. God never values His work more than His people. So He always forms people first—and entrusts work only after waiting.
Worship, too, often lacks waiting. Songs must be fiery, sermons moving, prayers tearful. But worship is not emotional movement—it is standing still before God. Its essence lies in waiting for Him. Not rushing ahead before He speaks. Not continuing before His will is clear. Only then is worship truly offered. Emotions fade, but presence transforms. Worship must pause before it moves, listen before it speaks.
The Word, likewise, is rushed. Many expect instant effects. But God’s Word is a seed—it needs planting, rooting, and time to grow. Without endurance, it stays emotional. Without deep reflection, obedience becomes shallow. Shallow obedience yields no change. The Word doesn’t bring instant change but lasting formation. Only those who wait can take root in it. God’s Word always bears fruit—but only to those who wait.
Waiting is essential in community. People change slowly. Repentance, turnaround, character-shaping—all take time and prayer. Yet we grow impatient. Why aren’t they changing? Why aren’t they committed? This judgment kills love. As God waited long for us, so must we for others. Waiting is love’s practice. A mature community is one that endures waiting in relationships.
Faith is ultimately revealed before time. When time is silent, fruitless, dark—faith is seen. It shows not in moving forward, but in staying. Faith without waiting soon hits a wall. If we can’t stop, we outpace God. His voice is hard to hear when we rush. He whispers—and only those who stop can hear Him.
The church must recover not growth but waiting. Not more work, but deeper rest in God’s will. Not prayers demanding results, but discerning His heart. Rooted Word, worship centered on presence, patience toward people—these are born in waiting. God still says, “Be still and know that I am God.” He still builds His Kingdom through those who wait.
We must ask again—and wait. Whose time am I following? God’s or mine? Is the fruit I seek from waiting—or rushed efforts? Faith belongs to those who wait. Those who endure God’s pace and yield to His will. God holds such people. And their waiting is never wasted.
