Encouragement for Today

August 8, 2025 Blessed Are All Who Wait SARAH FREYMUTH Lee en español

“Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)

I sat in the terminal at the airport, daylight slowly waning. My family and I were delayed three hours on our way to Florida. Three hours with nothing to do but watch the hands circle on the giant clock in the terminal.

This was not the hope when we set out for the airport, excited for a few days of rest and family time.

There was now groaning and frustration and a chorus of, “Why didn’t we check the flight status before we left?” But our disappointment eventually settled down into a quiet calm. We had to be patient. Eventually our plane arrived, and we were on our way — but until then, there was nothing we could do about the situation. 

This is the waiting game of life, isn’t it?

We wait for healing for a loved one.
We wait for the job offer that just isn’t coming.
We wait for conflict resolution.
We wait for an answer to unending prayer, looking to God to come through on our timeline.

As humans, we have short attention spans and sometimes even shorter tempers. When things don’t align the way we expect them to, our expectations spill onto God. We may even shake our fists and scream at the sky like He's left us on our own.

But the God of the universe, who is intimately acquainted with our thoughts and cries, is close beside us. He longs to show us mercy in His perfect timing and in His perfect way.

In our cries for His Kingdom to come here and now, we forget how nearsighted we can be and how much higher His thoughts are than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). But God is God. He knows our actions, even the ones caused by our impatient tempers, and loves us nonetheless. When we’ve finally exhausted all our options and plans, He waits for us with open arms.

The Lord longs to be gracious to us, longs for all people to come to know Him through Jesus. Even if He appears to delay, He always has good reason:

“Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” (Isaiah 30:18).

Answers to our longings might seem delayed, but we can hope in the One who is more than willing to see us through, who has our best in mind, and who makes a way to strengthen our spirits in the waiting as He guides us to where we need to go.

God, I thank You that You are patient with me and that as life tests my patience, You encourage me to get up and try again. Help me to reset and rest in Your plans and timing. Thank You for the way You are working for my good. I long for You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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FOR DEEPER STUDY

2 Peter 3:15, “And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him …” (ESV).

Isaiah 40:30-31, “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but 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” (ESV).

What has been testing your patience lately? How might God be growing you through your waiting? We’d love to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments.

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