When Waiting Feels Like a Pause: Finding Purpose in the In-Between
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” -Psalm 27:14
I pulled into the pick-up line early—per usual. My third grader doesn’t like being the last one picked up from school. The last time I was “late,” she spent the entire ride home telling me how long she had to wait in the sun, how hungry she was, and how I should’ve gotten there sooner. She made it sound like she was melting, starving, and utterly abandoned—and I, of course, took it personally.
So here I was, twenty minutes early for the sake of my nine-year-old. With the engine off and the hum of the afternoon around me, I sat in the quiet and thought about all the things I was waiting on:
The clothes to dry
The laundry to be folded
The dishwasher to be unloaded
Supper to be finished
My life to begin
That last thought startled me. Because if I was honest, I was living my life—right there in that waiting line. Right there in the folding, the cleaning, the small, ordinary rhythms I had convinced myself were pauses instead of part of the story.
Waiting Isn’t Wasted
Psalm 27:14 is an invitation to trust God’s timing and character, even when we can’t see what He’s doing. When David penned these words, he was surrounded by enemies and uncertainty, yet his response was not panic—it was patience. He anchored his heart in who God is rather than what he could control.
Maybe waiting isn’t wasted after all. Maybe it’s where God meets us—teaching us to see Him in the slow, hidden, in-between places.
If you’re in a season of waiting, friend, know this: God hasn’t forgotten you. The life you’re living isn’t on pause—it’s unfolding right now, moment by moment, in every car line and kitchen-sink prayer. The God who asked you to “wait” is the same One who promises to be with you while you wait.
Strength in Stillness
Strength doesn’t always look like movement. It often looks like quiet faithfulness—showing up in the mundane, doing the next right thing, and trusting that God is at work behind the scenes.
Philippians 1:6 reminds us, “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.” The work isn’t finished, but it is in progress. The waiting season is often God’s workshop, where unseen growth takes place.
Keep showing up. Keep waiting on Him. Strength sometimes looks like sitting still, trusting that even here, even now, God is making something beautiful grow.
Every Small Act Matters
Your faithfulness matters. The lunches packed, the prayers whispered under your breath, the moments you choose patience when you’d rather not—all of it counts. God sees it, and He’s shaping something in you through it.
Waiting is not a sign that life is on hold; it’s proof that God is still working. The same hands that hold your future are holding you steady in the present.
Reflection
Where have you felt like you’re “just waiting”? What if that place is exactly where God is growing something unseen?
Meet the Author
Reanna Hoffman
Reanna is a writer, speaker, coach, and host of the Not Just Waiting Podcast, where she equips women to wait well and actively pursue Jesus in every season. A former teacher who followed God’s call into new adventures, Reanna is passionate about reminding others they are seen, valued, and deeply loved by God. Whether she’s writing, coaching, or baking something sweet, she believes the Lord is the best adventure guide—and she’s just getting started.
Connect with her on Instagram here.
