If God Is Making You Wait... Do What Waiters Do and Serve!

Let me start with a confession: I am not a fan of waiting. I don’t like waiting in line at the grocery store. I don’t like waiting at the doctor’s office. I don’t like waiting for the microwave to hit zero. I especially don’t like waiting on God.

Because when God says “wait,” it usually feels less like a gentle pause and more like being stuck in divine hold music with no estimated wait time and no option to press zero for customer service. Recently, I ran across a phrase that hit me right between the eyes: “If God is making you wait, do what waiters do and serve.”

Suddenly, waiting didn’t feel like punishment anymore; it felt like purpose. Most of us think waiting is dead space.  We treat it like life is on pause until something happens, until the job comes through, the healing arrives, the relationship changes, the opportunity opens, or the direction becomes clear.

We sit there tapping our feet, checking our spiritual watch, wondering why God is taking so long. Meanwhile, God is looking at us like a restaurant manager staring at a server leaning against the wall during a dinner rush. In God’s mind, waiting was never meant to be idle.

Waiting was meant to be active. Waiting was meant to be service.  Waiting was meant to be preparation.  Think about a waiter in a restaurant. They don’t stand in the corner doing nothing until someone calls their name.

They move. They refill drinks. They check on tables. They clean up messes. They help in the kitchen. They serve whoever is in front of them. They stay busy while they wait for the next assignment. That’s their job. Maybe that’s the lesson, too.

God isn’t asking us to sit quietly in the lobby of life until our number is called. He’s asking us to serve while we wait. Serve in our families. Serve in our communities. Serve in our churches. Serve in our workplaces. Serve the people right in front of us. Serving keeps us moving when waiting makes us feel stuck.

Here’s a hard truth. Waiting is uncomfortable because it forces us to trust. Trust is hard when you want control. We want timelines. We want guarantees. We want answers. We want progress reports.

God usually gives us… silence and opportunity. Opportunity to help someone.
Opportunity to encourage someone. Opportunity to show kindness. Opportunity to make a difference in small ways.

It’s like He’s saying, “While you’re waiting on your miracle, be someone else’s blessing.”

That might sting a little. Sometimes, maybe most of the time, we want to be served, not be the server. Here’s something I’m slowly learning. Serving while you wait changes you. It shifts your focus away from what you don’t have and toward what you can give. It replaces frustration with purpose. It replaces anxiety with action. It replaces impatience with compassion.

Before you know it, something strange happens. The waiting doesn’t feel as heavy anymore. When you’re busy serving others, you realize God was working on you the whole time. Not just preparing your future. Preparing your heart. Preparing your attitude. Preparing your strength. Preparing your ability to handle the blessing when it finally shows up.

Sometimes the delay isn’t about the destination. Sometimes the delay is about making sure the waiter is ready to become the host.

So here’s where I landed on this whole thing. If God has me in a waiting season, I can either sit around complaining like a guy in a broken recliner yelling at the TV and wondering why nothing is happening , or I can grab an apron and start serving somebody. Honestly, serving beats sulking every single time.

Because waiting on God was never meant to turn us into spectators. It was meant to turn us into servants. The funny thing is, while you’re busy refilling cups, carrying burdens, encouraging hearts, and helping people breathe a little easier, God is quietly preparing your table in the background. Doors start opening. Strength starts growing. Faith starts deepening. Perspective starts changing. And one day, without warning, the kitchen bell rings.

Not because you complained loud enough. Not because you worried hard enough. Not because you stressed long enough. But because it was finally time. So if you find yourself waiting… Refill someone’s cup. Carry someone’s burden. Encourage someone’s heart. Serve someone’s need. Because the fastest way through a waiting season… is to act like a waiter and trust the One who owns the restaurant. 🍽️