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Waiting Isn't a Waste: The Surprising Comfort of Trusting God in the Uncertainties of Life

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Exploring 6 Characteristics of Waiting to Prompt Wisdom from God and Gain Invaluable Peace

Throughout our lives, we experience countless periods of waiting. Some moments are mere nuisances—others are daunting seasons filled with intense worry and doubt. We grow impatient by immovable traffic or crave an impending answer to a medical condition. Whatever our current circumstances, our innate response is to take action rather than stay still.

In Waiting Isn't a Waste, author Mark Vroegop calls believers to resist the human urge for control and lean on Christ for comfort while we wait for the uncertainties of life to unfold. Vroegop explores what it means to wait on God through 6 important characteristics—waiting is hard, common, biblical, slow, commanded, and relational. This book not only teaches listeners how to wait on God but inspires them to embrace waiting—for it prompts wisdom from God and brings invaluable peace to the present.

Written for Christians in Seasons of Those struggling with anxiety, discouragement, or weariness as they wait Explores 6 Characteristics of Waiting is hard, common, biblical, slow, commanded, and relational Written by Mark Author of Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, which was named the ECPA 2020 Christian Book of the Year PLEASE When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

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Published June 25, 2024

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About the author

Mark Vroegop

10 books88 followers
Mark Vroegop (MDiv, Grand Rapids Theological Seminary) is the lead pastor of College Park Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is a conference speaker, a council member with the Gospel Coalition, a trustee of Cedarville University, and the author of Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy. Mark blogs at markvroegop.com.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 664 reviews
Profile Image for Maggie Burton.
81 reviews2 followers
November 23, 2024
Loved this! Listened on audio. I’d like to read the hardcopy, and I’d underline most of the book probably.
To be a Christian is to wait - a good book for any Christian to read no matter season you’re in.
Profile Image for Sarah Beth Bills.
29 reviews
June 8, 2025
Every Christian should read this book. It's rich with scripture, wisdom, and practical guidance for anyone in a time of waiting. The truth is, we’re all waiting for something—and ultimately, we’re living in a broken world waiting for Jesus to return. In the meantime, this book offers encouragement and a powerful shift in perspective, using scripture as a guide. I’m already planning to reread it and highlight even more the second time through!
Profile Image for Catherine Clark.
130 reviews8 followers
October 15, 2024
This book was sweet & encouraging & nourishing to me. Everyone is waiting on something, why would we not want to focus on how to do that more faithfully? I felt peace from the reminders in Scripture to wait on the Lord, to not fear, & to trust in Him. There are countless stories & prayers of waiting in the Bible & God is faithful to them all. I plan to read this book many times. It truly did encourage me so much!

The chapters go through how to wait honestly, frequently, thoughtfully, patiently, intentionally, & collectively.

“Waiting isn’t doing nothing. It’s directing the heart toward who God is.”

“Embracing waiting confronts my desire for control.”

“Change your focus. Don’t live by what you don’t know about your life. Embrace this truth instead: “none who wait for you shall be put to shame” (Ps 25:3).”

“I waited and waited and waited for God” (Ps 40:1 MSG)
Profile Image for Brittany Shields.
681 reviews127 followers
July 3, 2024
“Waiting on God is living on what I know to be true about God when I don’t know what’s true about my life.”


I hate waste. Wasted food, wasted money, wasted time, wasted opportunities, wasted words.

When I saw the title of this book I knew I needed to read it. So much of life is spent waiting in some form or another and I needed to be able to see how it wasn’t a waste.

I loved Vroegop’s book Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy, and this is almost an extension of that book. Although that book focuses on the idea of lamenting and how we struggle through our grief, the principles he directs us to in both books are similar.

He points us to the person of God. Who is God when we hurt? Who is God when we are waiting? The answer is the most important part of both journeys. We trust God in the pain because we know what is true about him. We trust God in the waiting because we know what is true about him.

We may not know what is true about our lives or what’s next, but what is true about God is unchanging, unlike our circumstances or our feelings. He is consistent, reliable, trustworthy, loving, just, and true.



I like how Vroegop divided this book. The chapters are titled in answer to the question ‘how do we wait on God’ because it’s not a matter of if or when. We’re in it now, so let’s not waste this time.

He exhorts us to wait:

- Honestly (waiting is hard)

- Frequently (waiting is common)

- Thoughtfully (waiting is biblical)

- Patiently (waiting is slow)

- Intentionally (waiting is commanded)

- Collectively (waiting is relational)

Waiting is always seen as a negative thing. In a world where convenience and speed is the order of the day, we do everything we can to avoid waiting. It’s shocking how incapable we are of waiting.


It was really convicting to think about shifting my mindset on waiting to view it from a biblical lens. To expect to wait. To understand that God factored that into the creation of the world on purpose.

“God designed waiting in the world and in redemption so that he’s central, not you or me. The frequency of waiting confronts our desire for control.”

If we stop acting surprised or frustrated when we are forced to wait and we start seeing it as an opportunity to express faith, for one our attitude changes, but two, what we do in that gap of life becomes a lot more active and productive.


Vroegop doesn’t sugarcoat waiting as if it’s all rainbows and butterflies. As he shares in his other book, he is no stranger to pain, grief, and really hard times of waiting. This isn’t a book that presents the power of positive thinking as the recipe to contentment and satisfaction.

He just takes something that the world has a constructed a perception and worldview around (waiting) and removes the blinders for us. He calls us back to God’s design for waiting.

“Waiting is the spiritual posture of endurance.”



He says that he’s not a fan of acronyms but because in those moments it’s hard to think or recall too deeply, he made an exception for this.

He uses FAST to help reorient his perspective and his mindset in the waiting:

Focus: The picture he gave here was of a sickly person coming outside to be warmed by the sun. I found this a really compelling image and one I can definitely relate to. To be in the light. To lift my face to the warm sun and feel it wash over me. It’s the picture of looking to God in our cold and dark waiting times. It’s letting him and who he is cover me and penetrate to my bones reminding me it’s going to be okay.

Adore: “worshipfully rehearse what you know to be true about God.” He offers a list of relevant Scriptures in the back of the book to meditate on. I think reflecting on really well-written lyrics of worship songs can do this as well. We may think ‘Oh I already know who God is’ but it’s something very different to read the words repeatedly, or out loud, or write them down, or to pray them that connects our knowledge to our hearts.

Seek- “it is active not fatalistic resignation.” I think this is an important distinction because if we believe in God’s sovereignty, it’s tempting to just say we’re going to wait it out because what’s the point, God’s going to do what he wants to do. But that’s not biblical waiting. I like how he says, “patient waiting is not fatalistic or pessimistic. It’s the hopeful commitment to seek God’s help creatively and faithfully while staying put.”

Trust- “embrace by faith the contentment and spiritual rest that come from knowing God can be trusted.” Waiting typically generates anger or anxiety because waiting takes away our control and the ability to be certain about what comes next. If we are trusting, we don’t have to be fearful or anxious. If we are seeing God for who he is and seeking to see him at work in our waiting, there won’t be room for anger or anxiety.


Throughout the book Vroegop walks through Psalm 40 and quotes extensively from Andrew Murray’s work to show us how a Christian is called to wait.

Waiting is an act of obedience. Waiting is abiding. Waiting connects us to hope. Waiting gives feet to our faith, even if those feet are called to be still instead of run around in circles. Waiting isn’t about what is happening to us, but what could happen in us.


Not only as a human being who has to wait way more than I would like to, but also as a mother of four children who think 30 seconds is an eternity, this book gave me a lot to think about. My kids hate waiting and they will basically never not have to wait so why not stretch their waiting ‘muscle’ now. To teach kids this from an early age would be hugely beneficial in the long run because their expectations will already be adjusted.

The things we wait for as adults are heavier than the snack or screen time waits of children, but the principle doesn’t change.



I think this book is highly relevant and a great read for anyone.

As I’ve said, I hate wasted time, and I can promise you that reading this book is not a waste of yours.

“… they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” — Isaiah 40:30

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” — Psalm 27:13-14



**Received a copy of this book from Crossway Books in exchange for an honest review.**

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Profile Image for (Katie) Paperbacks.
943 reviews401 followers
August 14, 2024
I feel like this book is relative at anytime and for anyone. It dives deep into the feelings we feel because of waiting, and how we can turn our thoughts and heart toward the Lord. How waiting is important for each of us, and that everyone goes through it. None of us go through it alone.
Profile Image for Brandi Davis.
191 reviews69 followers
August 5, 2024
Y’all, I don’t even know where to start! 😯 There are not enough good things I can say about this book and how instrumental it is to helping the body grow in spiritual maturity.

Mark Vroegop brought the heat and Scriptural receipts as he made a case for developing a biblical theology of waiting. His aim was to help us see that “waiting on God is living on what we know to be true about God when we don’t know what’s true about our lives.” To do this, he shows us that we need to wait:

⏳ honestly
⏳ frequently
⏳ thoughtfully
⏳ patiently
⏳ intentionally, and
⏳ collectively

When we’re able to do this, our view of waiting shifts. We no longer see it as a waste and we, in turn, no longer waste it.

Wouldn’t it be nice to see waiting as more than a nuisance? To recognize that the Lord is using it as a means of spiritual transformation in our lives? If so, READ THIS BOOK!! It’s practical and biblical—and the reflection questions that close out each chapter are deep and helpful! 5 ⭐️’s easily!

Grateful to @crosswaybooks for providing me a copy to read in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Rebecca Smith.
117 reviews86 followers
April 12, 2025
I had low expectations going into this read, thought it would be fluffy, contentment based but I was wrong!

I saw a lot of my flesh called out as the author talks about reasons waiting is so difficult. “Disdain for waiting is connected to a desire for control” - ouch

Walks through what embracing waiting looks like biblically and how waiting is a necessary part of the life of faith. Waiting isn’t optional. Ultimately, believers wait for eternity and for the fulfillment of restoration.

Encouraging, convicting and practical!
Profile Image for Claire Lockwood.
14 reviews2 followers
April 1, 2025
*audiobooked* What if I told you I cried a lot, would that be embarrassing? Surely not. Author of Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament brought us another awesome book. Feeling really comforted by the Psalms that Vroegop carries us through in this book. Highly recommend for a deep-dive into any kind of waiting: in line at the store, for test results, for a job offer, etc. Waiting is good, slow, common, biblical, relational, hard, and commanded.
Profile Image for Derrick Kenyon.
65 reviews11 followers
August 12, 2025
“Waiting is living in what I know to be true about God when I don’t know what is true about my life.”

Listened to this in preparation for a sermon from Psalms. This short book is packed full of wisdom and insight on the biblical and yet neglected concept of waiting on God. This book ministered to my soul. Highly recommend.
Profile Image for B Hatfield.
175 reviews4 followers
February 28, 2026
WOW the Lord is so kind and would be the God of small details and the biggest providence to allow Julianna and I to read this as sisters waiting in such different seasons. only to encourage each other so deeply. we often cannot see how the Lord is sanctifying and growing us in ourselves, so we need others surrounding us. they see the littlest and biggest of changes, so if you see more growth or more trust or more desperation for the Lord in your friend or family or coworker , tell them. what a balm to my soul this book has been. what is true about God in my waiting!

here are my notes.
DO YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO CELEBRATES IT?

foreword:
- Cultivate the virtue of patience in waiting
- there is both the challenge and the opportunity of growing in virtue, growing in Christlikeness
- HE WANTS YOU TO KNOW WAITING IS ITSELF A HELP
- waiting does not preclude serving the Lord, it reshapes it.
- may we have the strength and wisdom for the waitings you are ordained to wait

Intro:
- we tend to view the gaps of life as something, at best, to be tolerated
- waiting on God is living on what I know to be true about God when I don’t know what’s true about my life!!!
- waiting is not just a part of our humanity; it’s vital to Christianity
- God aims to transform what is painful and confusing. That’s also why we are COMMANDED to wait. From God’s perspective, it’s good. But that doesn’t mean it is easy
- I want you to see waiting as more than just a delay.
1. What is your disposition and attitude toward waiting?
I struggle with waiting because I like control but I am being convicted and encouraged to slow down in this season
2. Describe the reasons you picked up this book.
Wanting to change jobs because of a hard season and waiting for the possibility of a romantic relationship
3. What are a few lessons you hope to learn or some questions you want to answer?
Honestly, I am just ready to get humbled from the Lord!
4. Describe a season when you waited on the Lord with some measure of spiritual success. How about the opposite?
My first year of teaching and the Lord bringing me out of that = success
Hmmm not a success = I am not sure and need to think more
5. Write out a prayer expressing your desire to learn to wait on the Lord
Lord, please let me be slow in this season and help me accept the things I do not understand and trust that you are sovereign over all that is in my life. If I knew what you were planning, I would pray for that. Thus, with my finite mind, please help me trust that you will answer in the way that you see fit.

chapter 1 "honestly"
- waiting is hard, waiting is commended as something valuable. Waiting is good. What’s more, waiting is commanded
- “To wait is a journey in faith toward the things God has promised.”
- Biblical waiting is connected to what we are looking for or where we place our trust. In this way, the gaps of life present an opportunity for faith
- TO WAIT IS TO LOOK WITH HOPE
- this is blessedness of waiting upon God, that it takes our eyes and thoughts away from ourselves, even our needs and desires, and occupies us with God
- WAITING REVEALS WHAT WE HOPE IN (good or bad)
- at the Red Sea, they failed to trust in God’s deliverance. But at Mount Sinai, they embraced unfaithfulness of idolatry- THEY CREATED ALTERNATIVE GODS THAT GAVE THEM A SENSE OF CONTROL
- sometimes we do not get waiting right because we are not prepared for how hard it is
- waiting doesn’t merely just involve info or time, it is connected to dreams and hopes. Often they are honorable desires, and that can make waiting even more challenging!!! THE FACT THAT ITS HARD DOESNT MEAN ITS WRONG
- waiting is hard when we feel powerless (the gaps of lifer really moments with a control vacuum)… underneath our disdain for waiting is our longing for control
- diagnosing when waiting is hard helps us not to waste it
- “The tension you feel as you try ti simultaneously hope in heaven while living wholeheartedly in this life isn’t necessarily an indicator of sinful discontentment. It may simply be evidence that you are a citizen of heaven living on earth.”
- THE FACT THAT WAITING IS HARD DOESNT MEAN YOU HAVE ALREADY FAILED

- find quote from Habakkuk
- find notes from Emma’s church on Sunday 1/18

chapter 2 "frequently"
- you cannot buy manna in bulk
- the Israelites waited for FOURTY YEARS - a place of instruction, testing, and waiting in the wilderness (by my calculation, the Israelites went to bed 14,600 times waiting for God to provide food the next day
- God provides what we need on his timeline. He gives us DAILY bread, he provides daily grace
- we tend to forget how normal it is to wait!!! 
- we all have a strong desire for control, "the frequency of waiting confronts our desire for control" 
"waiting is what you do when you can't do what you want to do" 
- James 1:2-3
- the farmer works hard but then he waits... limitations are woven (WOVEN BY TYLER CORBIN) into the created order. God designed it this way (waiting is normal because of our limitations)
- "the challenge, however, comes when something important, expected, or strongly desired comes into the picture...suddenly we are surprised or frustrated or annoyed that we have to wait"
- PAGE 29!!
- "waiting for God is one of the most central experiences of the Christian life"
- waiting on God was both how they survived and how they lived with hope
- it's God's design to regularly remind us that we are not divine- GOD INTENDS FOR US TO WAIT ON HIM (and he waits on us!!! D. Bailey's metaphor on waiting)
- frequent waiting errors: anger demands action, anxiety wants to think, apathy stops caring
anger (sinful anger is simply our attempt at taking control, when it comes to waiting, it's tempting to fill the gap of vulnerability with anger. anger is just a way for us to force change) & anxiety (rather than learning to wait on God, we try to think our way out of our limitations) & apathy (we still go through the motions but we have quit hoping as we are waiting, rather than embracing a God-centered hope, we have resigned ourselves to no longer wait by quitting on it)

3. thoughtfully 
- God is going to help you. He has to
- it's not that I can make him do exactly what I want. rather, it is a calling to live by divine promise
- "What he has granted us is the token of much more. That which we have not yet received is as sure as that which has already come." -C Spurgeon
- "he acts for those who wait for him" - Isaiah 64:4
- we can take God at his word again and again and again
- instead of focusing on what I don't know, we have to rehearse what we do know to be true about God 
- but at a deeper level, waiting reveals what we believe about God and about ourselves- it challenges our dreams, expectations, and abilities. waiting is a frequent and often painful reminder that we are not in control
- it is an opportunity TO USE uncertainty as the means of spiritual growth and INTIMACY with your Savior
- we often waste seasons of waiting because we are not thinking this way ^ we are rather just reacting, emoting, and (usually) sinning
- wait = "to look with eager expectation" (OT)
O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. BE OUR ARM EVERY MORNING, oursalvation in the time of trouble (Isaiah 33:2)
- wait = hope... this connection invites us to shift our focus from what's not true about our loves to what is true about God. 
- waiting biblically is seeing seasons of delay as opportunities to hope in God!!!!!
- WAITING IS THE SPIRITUAL POSTURE OF ENDURANCE
- to wait is to hope, to wait is to trust, to wait is to have faith 
- "One of the chief needs in our waiting upon God, one of the deepest secrets of its blessedness and blessing, is a quiet, confident persuasion that it is not in vain; courage to believe that God will hear and help." - Andrew Murray
- wait = "to receive or accept" (NT)
- the main point here is the person waiting has a need outside of him/herself. the GAP CREATES THE NEED to receive or welcome somethinng
- IT IS A POSTURE OF OPEN HANDS (mack), a spiritual opportunity to receive from God 
- "I'm in the middle of that decision right now, and I'm not getting any direction, but I am feeling close to the Lord because I am struggling..." *this IS SO TRUE AND ME AT TCC FOR THE FIRST MONTHS "...I am dependent. I feel in resonance with the Spirit; while I do not have the answer, I'M WHERE GOD WANTS ME TO BE BECAUSE I AM FOCUSED ON HIM." -Maxie Dunnam
- FAST:
F) Focus
- changing your focus 
- "I haven't heard anything yet. It must mean..." (me in relationships)
"I'm getting nervous. I need to start taking some steps." (me at my job)
- the loss of control = a means of spiritual growth
- "indeed, none who wait for you will be put to shame" (Psalm 25:3)
- this step may be the hardest because it has the emotional power of the gap moment
- "Come however feeble you feel. Just WAIT in his presence. As the sun does its work in the weak one who seeks its rays, God will do His work in you." -AM
- DONT LIVE BY WHAT YOU DONT KNOW ABOUT YOUR LIFE. Embrace truth. Psalm 25:3
A) Adore 
- waiting is choosing to focus on what I know about the Lorf instead of panicking in uncertainty
- glory is connected to weightiness, I imagined the truth of God taking up all the space in the gap moment
- FILLING MY WAITING WITH WHO GOD IS proved to be transforming
S) Seek
- I'm seeking God's help in a new and even desperate way
- REQUEST in prayer... that's what we do when we wait. we are not in control, so we talk to the one who is 
- "It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions." - Eugene Peterson
- don't make the mistake of thinking waiting means you are doing nothing. usually it means that you are not doing what you want to do (be active, seek the Lord)
T) Trust
- the contentment and spiritual rest that come from knowing God can be trusted!!
- waiting involves affirming what we know and learning to live on it (Psalm 25:19)

"You are not going to wait for yourself to seee what you feel and what changes come to you. You are going to wait on God, to know FIRST, what He is, and then after that, what He will do." -AM

chapter 4 - patiently
- waiting is SLOW
- waiting requires patience beyond my expectations
- SHIFT - "why is God allowing this to happen?" TO "who is God?"
- Psalm 40 "you are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God" it ends with hopeful urgency, it embraces who God is while pleading for help
- redefine patience- I WAITED AND WAITED AND WAITED FOR GOD
- it shows me that patience starts by simply waiting more than what I've wanted or expected
- waiting patiently embraces the uncomfortable addition of more time
- I've often thought of patience as requiring a completely different mindset about my experience. It could be true. However, what if patience simply means to not quit or give in??? What if it means to keep doing what's right??? It seems that we could say that patience is more about not doing something different and unhelpful, like reacting or emotionally responding.
- long suffering = to suffer longer, longer than what? Longer than what we expect
- A HUMBLE DEPENDENCY ... patience is letting go what I thought was going to be true about my life. just consider what role your desires, plans, or timing have played in how you approach your waiting . help me reset my expectations
- mapping God's faithfulness: look at screenshots
- Memorialize God's past deliverance , his past track record, serve as a memorial of his trustworthiness
- I believe that i shall look upon the goodness of the Lord!
- It's not a violation of patience to pray with faith-filled imagination regarding what you desire God to do - sometimes I confuse patience with resigned acceptance. BUT patient waiting is not fatalistic or pessimistic! It's the hopeful commitment to seek God's help creatively and faithfully WHILE STAYING PUT
- Embrace what could happen in us more than what's happening to us
- "Let us therefor cultivate the habit of distinguishing on God, not only for we think we need, but for all His grace and power are ready to do for us."
- embrace the tension! Lamentations 3:25-27 (page 66)
- it seems to me that we often, sulkily, reject the good God offers us because at the moment we expected some other good
- I AM POOR AND NEEDY, but the Lord takes thought of me!
- Shift your quiet time into waiting time !!!!!
- Pray, "you are going to help me!" My car is where I need to do page 69
- "Our private and public prayer are our chief expression of our relation to God: it is in them chiefly that our waiting upon God must be exercised. ... Bow quietly before God, just to remember and realize who He is, how near He is, how certainly He can and will help. Just be still before Him and allow His Holy Spirit to waken and stir up in your soul the child-like disposition of absolute dependence and confident expectation. Wait upon God as a Living Being, as the Living God, who notices you, and is just longing to fill you with His salvation!"

chapter 5-intentionally
- stand still and seek the salvation of the Lord
- "we may rest assured that He WHO MADE US FOR HIMSELF; that He might give Himself to us and in us, that He will never disappoint us!"
- choosing to wait, waiting on Him = an expression of obedience, an act of hope-filled gutsy faith
- waiting for the Lord = a statement of identity ... surely there's something for me to do! it's do be a watchman!
- instead of constantly mulling over what isn't clear or known, consider these intentionally:
- waiting is hard and normal!
- this uncertainty pushes me to dependent prayer. that's very good.
- HE PROMISES TO HELP ME WHEN I WAIT
- waiting on God is simply looking to him
- Isaiah 64:4- God acts for those who wait for him
- as i plan to wait, I've seen God work!
- TC Cherry
- boys lol
- friendships
- WAITING ON THE LORD IS HARD. WAS HARD. WILL BE HARD. but there's no question about the value and fruit. looking back, i can see the value of that season. I wisely have chosen to wait on the Lord if it were up to me.
- " Let [waiting] become so much our consciousness that the utterance comes spontaneously, 'On Thee I do wait all the day; I wait on Thee.' This will indeed imply sacrifice and separation, a soul entirely given up to God as its all, its only joy. This waiting on God has hardly yet been acknowledged as the only true Christianity. And yet, if it be true that God alone is goodness and joy and love; if it be true that our highest blessedness is in having as much of God as we can; if it be true that Christ has redeemed us wholly for God, and made a life of continual abiding in His presence possible, nothing less ought to satisfy than to be ever breathing this blessed atmosphere, "I wait on Thee.""

6 collectively
-Jesus commanded the disciples to wait
-sometimes waiting is unfamiliar in the regular life of the church
-it all created an invitation for more spiritual maturity and godliness! to conform to the likeness of Christ!!! It reminds us that we are not supposed to be living for the kingdom of this world . It reinforced the limitations of our strength as we embrace the need for God's help
-WE FORGET THIS - We need others to help us: Julianna, Emma, Emilee, Christina, Mackenzie, Gretch, Alli... thankful for their compassion
-it won't be long sister!
-"Hope deferred makes the heart sick" prov 13:12 DEFERRED NOT LOST
-it is HARD! brutal!
-waiting isn't doing nothing , its directing the heat toward who God is! prayer!
-for he who promised is faithful!!!!
-THE LORD MAY BE PREPARING YOU FOR A MINISTRY TO PEOPLE WITH WHOM YOU SHARE A COMMON WAITING STORY
-let NONE that wait on Thee be ashamed !!!


- expectations make us miss beautiful moments sometimes
- picked up this book maybe bc you're desperate to know how to navigate a tension-filled gap land. but this book prob didn't fundamentally change you or your circumstances
- THE TENSION IMPLICIT in delays and uncertainty is still quite uncomfortable. But we can appreciate the redemptive nature of my gap moments. It's good to focus on who God is rather than what I don't know.
- I want to not miss opportunities to wait on the Lord - GOD WORKS FOR THOSE WHO WAIT FOR HIM
- waiting confronts my desire to be in charge of my life
- vulnerability is unnerving, but gap moments as opportunities to trust in God, to embrace the safety and security of who he is and what he's promised
- we are conditioned to the speed and efficiency of culture!
- WAITING IS MORE LIKE ABIDING. ITS CLOSER TO TRUST AND FAITH. IT DESCRIBES A NORMAL AND CENTRAL ELEMENT OF DISCIPLESHIP THAT I CANNOT NEGLECT.
- welcome God into more moments bc practicing and taking a few minutes to focus adore seek and trust = greater closeness with my savior
- WHAT IS TRUE ABOUT GOD? instead of what I don't know
- give God time and resist my need for quick action
- THE ISSUE AT HAND isn't if we wait but HOW WE WAIT
- There will come a day when our waiting will be over. Our faith will be sight. Everything will be complete. Eternal life will replace our temporary sense of time. It's not that everything will be fast | or quick. It's just that there will be no more gaps of vulnerability. • Wha's more, we'll see our God just as he is. Well know exactly what's true about him because we'll be with him forever.
- Until that great day, we are waiting on God.

"God not only understands but shares the desire which is at the root of all my evil- the desire for complete and ecstatic happiness. But He knows, and I do not, how much happiness can be really and permanently attained... I think we may be quite rid of the old haunting suspicion (it raises its head in every temptation) that there is something else than God- some kind of delight which He 'doesn't appreciate' or just chooses to forbid, but which would be real delight if only we were allowed to get it. !! The thing just isn't there. !! ‼️ Whatever we desire is either what God IS trying to give as quickly as He can, or else a false picture of what He is trying to give us- a false picture which would not attract us for a moment if we saw the real thing." -C.S. Lewis
Profile Image for Lauren Danforth.
39 reviews
July 14, 2024
I’m going to have to read a physical copy of this book instead of just listening to it. Might buy 20 copies to keep on hand to give away - it’s that good.
Profile Image for Crosby Cobb.
199 reviews17 followers
February 6, 2025
This book describes waiting on God as leaning into what we know to be true about God when we don’t know what is true about our lives. He hits on control, patience, all the things that I struggle with the most 🫠 It was soooo convicting but also really encouraging!
I listened to the audio book and then immediately ordered a physical copy for myself and another one to have on hand to be able to give out when a friend needs it. Vroegop’s writing has been such a gift to me lately - I’m thankful for his presence in the contemporary church!
Profile Image for Susy C. *MotherLambReads*.
569 reviews81 followers
February 7, 2025
A introductory look at the topic of "waiting"/ "hoping" in God. For a reader who is just approaching this topic for the first time this would be an excellent read. For a more seasoned reader this book would be basic.

For a reader wanting something deeper he references other books he has read on this topic quite a bit. I loved his first book on the topic of "lament" and he refers to this book as well.

He approached this act of waiting by divinding it into:
1. honestly- it's hard
2. frequently- it's common
3. thoughtfully- it's Biblical
4. patiently- it's slow
5. intentionally- it's commanded
6. collectively- it's relational.

The appendex had a wealth of information and more Scripture references about WHO the Lord is and Waiting in the Psalms.


"I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope." Ps 130:5

💬𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵:𝘩𝘵𝘵𝘱𝘴://𝘸𝘸𝘸.𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮.𝘤𝘰𝘮/𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴/
💬*𝙈𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠.*⁣
Profile Image for Emily Gillmore.
3 reviews7 followers
October 14, 2025
A million stars. I can’t recommend this book enough!! What an encouragement and conviction to be reminded that as followers of Christ, we are called to wait; yet God is so faithful and working in our waiting.
“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord!”
Psalm 27:13-14
Profile Image for Anna Bliss.
52 reviews11 followers
March 28, 2025
Recommending it to literally everyone i know. it doesn’t matter if you’re waiting for a husband, a house, a job, a baby, reconciliation, or just stuck in nashville traffic. It’s SO GOOD. quick read ~100 pages and easy language. Will be keeping a physical copy on my shelf for years to come.
Profile Image for Xan Sibley.
108 reviews87 followers
October 7, 2024
Full of so much truth for every follower of Jesus in every season of life. We’re all waiting on God for something(s).
Profile Image for Christina Bacon.
9 reviews1 follower
July 16, 2025
“And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you.” Psalm 39:7

Well there’s so much to say about this book that I certainly won’t be able to fit into this review. One of the greatest perspective shifts of my life.

What are we waiting for? Not our circumstances to change, not on our earthly dreams and desires to be met, but we wait on the Lord. We place our hope in not what we don’t know to be true about our lives, but what we do know is true about God.

Anger, anxiety, apathy are all responses we commonly face during waiting, and that just exposes our desire for control.

So we wait = seek the Lord (not doing nothing)

I encouraged everyone to read this book, it will enrich your faith.

“There will come a day when our wedding will be over. Our Faith will be site. Everything will be complete. Eternal life will replace our temporary sense of time… we’ll see our God just as he is. We’ll know exactly what’s true about him because we’ll be with him forever. Until that great day, we are waiting on God.” P 110
Profile Image for Caroline Parkinson.
136 reviews
March 7, 2025
Waiting is hard, but it can still be good and beautiful if we don't waste it. In our culture of instant gratification waiting is viewed as an intolerable evil to be eliminated in every sphere of life, but I'm convinced that this is a plot of the devil to keep us from experiencing the blessings that come from waiting on God.
I'm finding that Mark Vroegop is becoming one of my favorite authors. He speaks biblically, clearly, and compassionately and examines waiting from angles I had never even considered, such as waiting intentionally, practicing waiting even if you're not in a season of waiting, and waiting as the church. He gives comfort, encouragement, and practical examples to help you make the most of your waiting.
I highly recommend this book and I'm sure I will revisit it in the future.
Profile Image for Hope Roskos.
24 reviews2 followers
January 8, 2025
wow… a lovely book on a sucky topic. This book has genuinely made me rethink all of my seasons of waiting, and honestly my whole life, in a good way. thank you Grace Hunt for recommending <3 Love that it wasn’t super long too. Unfortunately the audiobook reader sounds like a robot, but that only brought it down to a 9/10 listen. Still so so good
Profile Image for Megan Wright.
46 reviews1 follower
August 11, 2025
Main point: Biblical waiting is trusting what we know to be true about God when we don’t know what is true about our lives. Listened on audio but plan to get a paper copy to revisit. Lots of practical suggestions for waiting intentionally on God with a biblical perspective.
Profile Image for Britta.
25 reviews1 follower
January 31, 2025
A book I’ll come back to again and again. Applicable to any season of waiting
Profile Image for Christine Minicky.
9 reviews1 follower
August 17, 2025
Read this in a day, so so good! This was great for an impatient gal like me. Waiting is an essential part of the Christian life and this really helped shape my perspective on it. “We reject the good in front of us because we expected some other good from God.” 🔥
Profile Image for Brooke.
8 reviews
December 21, 2024
would give it another star if I could!!! going to read this again immediately bc it was that good!! simple, clear, biblical, repetitive (in the best way!)
Profile Image for Brian.
327 reviews
July 20, 2024
Waiting for something visible is difficult for most of us. Waiting for what we can’t see is often worse. Vroegop, lead pastor of College Park Church in Indianapolis and a TGC Board member, explains how to redeem our inevitable waiting periods. Covering some of the same territory as Kelly Kapic’s book You’re Only Human, he reminds us we’re finite creatures designed with limitations. We can’t speed up time or see the future. We have to depend on a good God in our “gap moments.”

Read my full review at https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/re...
Profile Image for Grace.
80 reviews
November 30, 2025
Put this at the top of your reading list!!! “The best time to learn how to wait is before you have to”. I have already told like 25 people about this book in daily conversation. So immediately helpful. Will be rereading and referencing a lot. Free to listen to on Spotify premium again!!
Profile Image for Kelly Rownd.
26 reviews
January 1, 2026
“God provides what we need on his timeline. He gives daily bread. He provides daily grace. You can’t buy manna in bulk” 🥵
Profile Image for Esther Hallel.
52 reviews3 followers
December 23, 2025
I had the privilege of reading this book while traveling on a choir tour. Its been some years since ive been on one but they've often been a place of spiritual focus and renewal for me, each evening pouring your heart and soul into worship in praising God while praying for and connecting with the other singers, listening to and hearing strangers stories in the evenings, and during the day on the bus, resting, thinking, etc. i took this book along with me during that time.

When I had saw it come up in Anna's feed not too long ago I caught my breath. it felt like a perfect and timely read for me, with recent life particulars pointing to me my struggle with waiting and/while trusting, surrendering control.

I was very excited to read it but found it to be disappointing and not really for me.

"My typical path is to be surprised at the opportunity to wait. When my desire for control gets the best of me, I frequently turn to three unhelpful and sinful responses: anger, anxiety, and apathy." pg. 33

Vroegop names anger, anxiety, and apathy as choices and as sin, rather than normal body responses God created us to understand, experience, and move through in different situations. I appreciate how practical his writing is, but in following this train of thought in his aim throughout the book, it centers around the minimization/removal of these emotional responses from our lives.

"What's your strategy for when you have to wait? Instead of allowing strong emotions to overtake you, use FAST as a framework to turn waiting into a spiritual opportunity... Im learning to battle anxiety and frustration with this biblical strategy."

I would say that the tools given for waiting in this book are essentially forms of rationalization to avoid feeling. I think that rationalization and managing emotional responses can be of use in difficult times, but that being able to process and feel one's emotions are significantly important as well, and also that viewing emotions as sinful responses to avoid at all costs is emotionally unhealthy and damaging. Nonetheless, rationalization can still have its place.


"The meaning of patience in the New Testament confirms this. The most common Greek word (makrothumia) refers to 'a state of emotional calm in the face of provocation or misfortune and without complaint or irritation." pg. 58-59 Patience is the absence of complaint, irritation, and turmoil

The situation that comes to my mind fastest in thinking of how this perspective seems harmful to people is how quickly it bars out the mental health community from faith. If faith is an absence of anxiety and the overcoming of instrusive thoughts or ruminations or some other experience, then those with chronic struggles, whether from trauma or other physical considerations, are unable to have faith in God, and patience and trust is unattainable, and it also shames them for their unwanted experience. (Not anything unwanted is un sinful and shouldn't be felt as not shameful)

This perspective, to me, shallows in comparison to a wrestling and a learning what faith and trust in God looks like in the midst of emotional turmoil instead of its removal, and how Christ meets us there. In my ears a need to remove all anger, anxiety, and apathy sounds more like a grip for control (what the book is meant to be aimed against) than the alternative of learning to walk with Christ even in the midst of such. If trusting God alone was so simple as enough to heal those things, it would be a much less complex world to navigate.

In summary, I found it to have some helpful reframes for how we think about waiting as well as some rationalization tools, but wouldn't recommend to others for the reasons described above. I think it would hurt some of my friends and add confusion to their experience more than help.

Going back to my excitement to read it, and some personal struggles with trusting and control, I found the approach really heavy on minimizing and eliminating feelings to not really meet me. Ive had multiple panic attacks this past year and am actually looking to get on medication at the support requests of different loved ones. Thats basically the experiences im coming out of as I approached this book.

As a side note, Andre picked it up as well. He isn't necessarily the same on some of my emotional opinions and so wasnt sure what to expect. He felt very off put though by his approach as well, especially having read Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy. He got the impression that a lot of his basis for advice for what beats ruminating and stuff was based off of his own personal experience, while not everyone is him or experiences things in the same way as him. He got the impression that he was basically saying, "in order to stop being anxious, stop being anxious." I had some pretty strong opinions on the perspectives behind his approaches, but Andre felt put off by it as well.
Profile Image for Pat Baird.
57 reviews1 follower
July 4, 2025
I need to tell you a story.

Last Wednesday, my heart and mind broke under the pressure I’ve been feeling in this season. I had a Jonah4-like moment where because of the heat of the day I despaired of life itself and begin to grow bitter towards God.

It was 106° and I was building fences in the heat of the day and because of my present circumstance, I began to grow angry at God because of all of the unfortunate things that have happened to me in recent days. Fundamentally speaking, I was impatient.

One thing you should know about me is that I love thunderstorms. I find them immensely comforting. As I drove home after work and was praying to God, I asked the Lord to send a rain. Not just any rain, a thunderstorm that I could sit on my porch and watch with my wife over a book and cup of coffee. I wanted the word to give me a blessing on my timing. And he didn’t…. In fact it got hotter.

That evening I went to church and in the sovereign plan of God one of our pastors was preaching on none other than patience……. That’s right; patience.

As I was sitting in that pew under the preaching of God’s word, my pastor again to preach James 5:7. It reads like this, “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains".

That’s right, “late rains”. If you’re not familiar with “late rains“, this is a metaphorical picture of God‘s present faithfulness in his own timing. As soon as my pastor began preaching on these late rains, I was moved to tears.

And just when I thought that it couldn’t get any more providential and spirit-filled I heard thunder roar, and a monsoon of raindrops tap the ceiling of our sanctuary. With every rumble of thunder, it was like the Lord was yelling “amen!” to the Holy Spirit’s work on my heart through the preaching.

The Lord sent the rain.

Immediately I reached down to order this book by way of an action in repentance. But my wife stopped me before I could and said, “honey, it will be here Friday”.

Yes… earlier that day the Holy Spirit put it on her heart to order it for me as a ministry to both of our hearts in this season of waiting.

I tell you this story because like every Christian that’s ever lived, I am someone who is learning to wait.

This book ministered to my soul. It didn’t solve all of my heart struggles or present circumstance. But it did give me practical insight to not waste my waiting. And I’d like to think I’m getting a little better every day.

If you’re like me, and you’re waiting… Get this book for your own soul.

5/5

And don’t forget, He will send the rain.
Profile Image for Amanda (The Little Book Spot).
249 reviews81 followers
August 2, 2024
Waiting. It’s something we all have to do. Maybe you’re waiting right now. From small to large, we can be waiting for a host of things. Most of life involves waiting for something.

Chances are, you don’t like waiting. I know I don’t. I’d rather be in action mode, moving on to the next step or finding the answer to why I’m waiting at all. We live in a world where most things we want are given to us instantly… hello, Google, Amazon, and the drive thru! As the author points out, waiting isn’t really valued in our culture.

But, what God has to say about waiting may surprise you. In this book, you’ll take a closer look at six characteristics that show us what it means to wait on God and how to embrace waiting.

💭 My thoughts:

I slowly read through this book, highlighting almost all of it (ha!) and trying to let it soak in. Lord knows, I needed this book. I’m bad at waiting and I often turn to unscriptural emotions when waiting like panic or anxiety. I appreciate that the author sticks to the Bible and uses rich, theological teachings throughout. There are also four practical appendixes and a Scripture index included!

I can honestly say, I never have considered waiting to have so many dimensions! I loved this deeper study and think it would beneficial to all Christian’s to read.

“The children of God are, and always have been, called upon to wait.”

“Waiting is good. What’s more, waiting is commanded. Let that sink in.”

“Have you ever considered that God could have immediately raised Jesus from the dead after he cried, “it is finished” (John 19:30)? Instead, a time of waiting— days of grief, confusion, and fear— was built into the divine plan.

Thank you @crosswaybooks for my #gifted copy of the book for my honest opinion.
Profile Image for Katie Betts.
325 reviews175 followers
September 22, 2024
Waiting can be hard, slow, and filled with uncertainty, but it’s also an opportunity to grow closer to God. By exploring six key characteristics of waiting, you'll discover how to embrace it as a path to wisdom, deeper faith, and invaluable peace, learning to trust God rather than rush ahead.

The only reason I know this book is transformative is because, somehow, I’m grateful for what I’ve waited for. That might seem wild, but when I think back, I realize just how thankful I am for what God’s taught me through waiting. Recognizing that I’m always waiting for something is actually liberating.

I’ve waited for career direction, and now that I’ve got a new job, I’m waiting for the ministry to kick off (this Thursday night—eeeek!!). After that, I’ll be waiting to see it grow. It’s an endless cycle. And that’s just one part of life. I’m waiting for a home, to get married, finish my dissertation, crush my TBR 🤪—the list never ends! Yet, I’m walking away from this book not just thankful for what I’ve learned in waiting, but also thankful that I’m still waiting.

I wouldn’t have wanted these things any sooner. As hard as it is, I know I’ll be thanking God for the waiting I’m doing today.

Wait honestly, patiently, and intentionally. And whatever you’re waiting for—don’t wait to read this book 😉

Thank you @crosswaybooks for sending a copy! This book is a true gift 💜

Perfect for you if you like:
Finding purpose in waiting
Blend of real life examples and biblical wisdom
Personal growth through patience

Similar to:
Our Deepest Desires by Gregory E. Ganssle
It’s Not Suppose to Be This Way by Lisa Terkeurst
Tired of Being Tired by Jess Connolly
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