Why Does God Make Us Wait on Him?

Previously, we looked at what waiting on God means. Because waiting on God often involves suffering—and that suffering can feel difficult to understand—it naturally leads us to ask: Why does God make us wait at all?

In fact, these waiting periods can get so intense that we may become angry at God and doubt His goodness or sovereignty over us.

It is a difficult lesson to learn, but the Bible is clear that God’s timing works very differently from ours. Thankfully, Scripture is not silent on why God makes us wait on Him, and we will take the time to explore the question: Why does God make us wait for Him?

Waiting Prepares Us

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character… (Romans 5:3–4a).

One of the reasons God makes us wait on Him is to prepare us. Waiting on God is often accompanied by suffering. But Scripture shows that suffering produces endurance and character when we respond in faith. We see throughout the Bible men and women who endured suffering before being used in God’s perfect timing.

Joseph was sold into slavery before his rise to power, David was constantly on the run from Saul before being crowned king, and even Jesus spent roughly thirty years in ordinary life before beginning His public ministry, which lasted only a few years. An inspirational example of this is how God prepared Peter to become foundational in the early church.

When Jesus first began His ministry, the disciples had much to learn. Though they witnessed many miracles, their walk with Him was marked by unbelief. When Jesus was arrested to be crucified, all the disciples forsook Him—including Peter. He had vowed he would never forsake Jesus, even if all others did. Yet Jesus was left alone on His way to the cross.

Fast forward several years, and we read that the apostles, including Peter, rejoiced to suffer for the sake of Christ:

“Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (Acts 5:41).

Peter was nowhere near ready to have this attitude when he was a disciple of Jesus. But during the time of Christ’s ministry, Jesus prepared Peter to become the man we see in Acts 5—a courageous, faithful, and God-glorifying servant.

From the life of Peter and other biblical examples, we see that God uses waiting to prepare us. He does this by teaching us dependence on Him (John 15:5), strengthening our faith (1 Peter 1:6–7), and developing patience and endurance (James 1:2–4), ultimately conforming us to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). Scripture compares this refining process to gold being tested by fire (1 Peter 1:6–7). As impurities are removed, the gold becomes purified. In a similar way, God often leads us through seasons of waiting that we do not fully understand in order to shape our character, deepen our trust in Him, and conform us to Christ. During these seasons, He exposes areas of pride, self-dependence, and unbelief that we might not otherwise see. We always need God, but certain seasons of life make us more aware of our need for Him. Waiting is never pleasant, but it is vital to our faith.

Waiting Reminds Us of Our Heavenly Hope

God often uses waiting periods to prepare us, but what if we never clearly receive an answer for our suffering as Joseph or Peter did? There are times in our lives when we may never see the fruit of our waiting this side of eternity. Yet God always uses our waiting for His glory and to strengthen our hope for eternity.

Romans 5:5 gives us comfort in this:

“and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit."

When we suffer and wait on God, it produces endurance, character, and hope. And what is our ultimate hope? It is that we will be with God forever, with no more suffering, tears, or pain (Rev. 21:4). This hope strengthens us in our suffering, reminding us that we have a home in Heaven that is secure for all eternity.

But Paul does not stop there. God did not only send His Son to die for us and prepare a home for us in Heaven—He also gave us His Spirit. The Holy Spirit pours out God’s love within us, so that we can experience His presence even now. Many missionaries who have suffered greatly have testified to the deep sustaining comfort of the Spirit in the midst of extreme trials. God does not promise an absence of suffering in this world, but He does promise His presence within it. We can take heart, because Christ has overcome the world (John 16:33).

Conclusion: Will We Trust God While We Wait?

Oftentimes, the hardest part of waiting is that God’s timing is not our timing, and an infinite God does not always make sense to finite minds. I naturally have an analytical mindset, and I often feel the need to understand everything. While that can be helpful in many areas of life, in my walk with God it can become a weakness if it keeps me from trust. God has shown me that I do not need to fully analyze His will, but instead walk in faithful obedience, trusting that He will take care of the rest (Matt. 6:33).

Life can become extremely difficult, and it is easy to question a sovereign God. Yet when we are tempted to doubt, we must look back to the cross. His Son bore the penalty we deserved. As Romans 5 reminds us, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom. 5:6). Jesus Himself entered into suffering and fulfilled the Father’s timing perfectly. He died for us at the right time and now reigns at the right hand of God forever.

So when we wait, we are not abandoned—we are being led by the same God who did not spare His own Son. And if He has already given us Christ, we can trust Him with everything else.

Does God always make sense? No—just ask Job.

But is He always trustworthy? Absolutely. He has never failed, and He will not start now.

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