They That Wait: How to Wait WELL
August 6, 2026 | ALOCS Women's Bible Study
Waiting on God can be difficult, especially when we do not know how long the wait will last or what the outcome will be. During our August Women's Bible Study, we explored what it means to wait well—not through passive inaction, but through active trust, worship, growth, and service.
Through Scripture and practical reflection, we examined why waiting can be uncomfortable, how our responses can shape the waiting season, and how God can use the wait to deepen our dependence on Him.
Watch the Bible Study
Watch the full August Women's Bible Study as we explore what it means to wait on God, the challenges that can arise during seasons of uncertainty, and practical ways to remain spiritually active while we wait.
Why Is Waiting So Hard?
Waiting can be difficult because uncertainty leaves us without the closure we naturally desire. When we cannot see what God is doing or when an answer will come, fear, doubt, comparison, and frustration can begin to shape our response.
During the study, we considered what it looks like to become a “bad waiter”—complaining through the wait, allowing doubt to consume the seeds God has planted, or comparing our season to someone else’s. Waiting well does not mean pretending the uncertainty is easy. It means learning to trust God while we are still in it.
Waiting Is Active, Not Passive
Biblical waiting is not simply sitting still until something changes. It is an active posture of dependence on God. We can continue worshiping, serving, learning, growing, and applying God's Word even when we do not yet have the answer we are waiting for.
Lamentations 3:21–27 reminds us to anchor our hope in God's character and faithfulness. Psalm 25 also gives us a picture of waiting through trust—asking God to teach us His ways, guide us in truth, and show us the path we should take.
The WAIT Framework
The WAIT framework gave us four practical areas to focus on during seasons of waiting:
W - Word & Worship: Stay spiritually fed through God's Word and worship. We cannot expect to wait well while spiritually empty.
A - Application, Access & Abide: Apply what God has already taught you. Remember what you still have access to instead of focusing only on what has been withheld, and abide in Christ so that your life continues to bear fruit.
I - Intentional Intimacy: Use the waiting season to intentionally draw closer to God. The greatest outcome of the wait may not simply be receiving what we asked for, but developing deeper intimacy with Him.
T - Timing: Trust God's timing rather than measuring His faithfulness against our own deadlines. What feels late according to our timeline does not mean God has lost control of the timing.
Grow Where You Are Planted
Jeremiah 29:1–10 gives us a powerful picture of what it means to remain active while waiting. While the Israelites were living in exile, God instructed them to build houses, plant gardens, establish families, and increase rather than decrease. Their circumstances were not yet what they wanted them to be, but God did not tell them to put their lives on hold.
The same principle can challenge us during our own waiting seasons: do not stop growing simply because you are waiting. God can still develop, use, and multiply what He has placed within you while you wait. Instead of treating the waiting season as wasted time, we can ask how God is calling us to grow where He has planted us.
Practicing the Wait
Waiting well requires practice. During the study, we were challenged to take intentional steps that help shift our attention from simply wanting the wait to end toward recognizing what God may be doing within us during the wait.
Practice three minutes of silence.
Sit quietly without distractions. Notice what rises to the surface, write it down, and bring those thoughts honestly before God in prayer.
Spend time in Psalm 25.
Read the entire Psalm and ask, “Show me myself in this Psalm.” Pay attention to the words, emotions, or verses that reflect your current season.
Find your biblical faith sibling.
Identify someone in Scripture whose experience reflects something about your own. Study how that person responded to uncertainty, delay, disappointment, or waiting—and what their story can teach you about your response.
Reflection Questions
What are you currently waiting on God for, and how has the wait affected your thoughts, emotions, or actions?
When waiting becomes difficult, are you more likely to complain, compare, withdraw, or continue trusting God?
Which part of the WAIT framework—Word & Worship, Application/Access/Abide, Intentional Intimacy, or Timing—needs the most attention in your current season?
What could it look like for you to “grow where you are planted” while you wait?
How might your waiting season change if deeper intimacy with God became part of the desired outcome—not only receiving the answer you are waiting for?
Final Thought
Waiting well does not mean waiting without questions, frustration, or uncertainty. It means choosing to remain rooted in God while those things are still present. The waiting season does not have to be an empty space between where you are and where you hope to be.
Continue in the Word. Continue worshiping. Apply what God has already shown you. Abide in Him. Pursue intimacy with Him. Trust His timing. And while you wait, keep growing where God has planted you.
Resources
Continue your study with the August Bible Study resources below. Use the study guide for personal reflection and practical application, and revisit the presentation for the complete teaching framework.
Join Us Next Month
Our Women's Bible Study is open to women ages 16 and older. Join us on the first Thursday of each month as we continue growing together in God's Word.
Visit our Events page for upcoming Bible Studies and registration information.
Comments