Waiting Is Not Passive

Episode Goal

Recover a biblical understanding of waiting that is active rather than passive. Most people experience waiting as an uncomfortable suspension of life until something changes. Scripture describes a different kind of waiting — one that is itself a posture of faith, that produces something in the one who waits, and that is qualitatively different from simply doing nothing while hoping God will eventually act.

Core Claim

Isaiah 40:31 promises that those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. But the waiting described here is not inactivity — it is a sustained orientation of trust and expectation toward God in the middle of circumstances that have not yet changed. That kind of waiting is harder than it sounds. And it is different from the deferral of obedience that also uses the language of waiting.

Primary Scripture

• Isaiah 40:31

Supporting Scriptures

• Isaiah 40:28–31
• Psalm 27:14
• Psalm 130:5–6
• Lamentations 3:25–26
• Romans 8:25

Episode Shape

1. Name the two kinds of waiting: passive inactivity and active, trusting orientation toward God.
2. Isaiah 40 in context: the exhausted people to whom the promise is given.
3. What waiting on the Lord actually involves: sustained trust in His character when circumstances do not confirm it.
4. The difference between waiting on God and stalling on God: a return to the delay theme in a new frame.
5. What waiting produces: renewed strength — not the energy of circumstances improving, but the strength that comes from God.

Tone Direction

• patient and steady, matching the subject
• honest about the difficulty of genuine waiting — it does not feel spiritual in the moment
• clear about the distinction between active waiting and passive avoidance
• grounded in the character of God as the reason waiting is possible

Cold Open Options

Option A

Waiting on God is not the same as doing nothing while you hope things change. In Scripture, waiting is a posture — an active orientation of trust and expectation toward God when circumstances are not yet cooperating.

Option B

There is a version of waiting that is genuinely faithful. And there is a version that uses the language of waiting to avoid what God has already called you to do. Knowing the difference matters.

Option C

Isaiah 40 promises that those who wait on the Lord will mount up with wings like eagles. That is not a promise to people who are comfortable. It is a promise to people who are exhausted and are being asked to trust God with their exhaustion.

Recommended Structure With Time Targets

• 0:00–4:00 Opening: what most people think waiting on God means
• 4:00–14:00 Isaiah 40:28–31 in full context — the exhausted people and the promise
• 14:00–24:00 What active waiting actually involves
• 24:00–32:00 The distinction: waiting on God vs. using waiting to avoid obedience
• 32:00–37:00 What genuine waiting produces — the renewal of strength
• 37:00–40:00 Reflection questions and close

Draft Intro

Welcome to Know God. Now Go.

We have been talking about pressure, suffering, and the formation that happens when faith is tested.

Today I want to address something that sits at the intersection of faith and patience: waiting.

And specifically, what it actually means to wait on God.

Because in most people’s experience, waiting feels passive. It is the time between what is now and what has not yet happened. The holding pattern. The suspension.

But Isaiah 40:31 says: “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.”

That is not the language of passive holding.

That is the language of something happening in the person who waits.

So what kind of waiting produces that?

Full Word-for-Word Script

Welcome to Know God. Now Go.

There is a version of waiting that feels like faith but is actually just a kind of spiritual hesitation.

The person says they are waiting on God.

They are waiting for the right moment. Waiting for circumstances to confirm the direction. Waiting for more peace about the decision.

And the waiting continues, and continues, and little changes.

Now sometimes that kind of hesitation is genuine discernment. God does call people to be still and to resist premature action.

But sometimes it is using the language of faith to avoid the discomfort of movement.

And then there is a different version of waiting. One that is genuinely costly. One that requires active faith rather than passive suspension.

This is the waiting Isaiah describes.

Isaiah 40 was written to a people who were exhausted.

They had been through difficulty, and the circumstances that surrounded them gave no immediate sign of changing.

God does not respond to their exhaustion by dismissing it or offering quick comfort.

He begins in verse 28 by asking them a question.

“Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?”

He is drawing their attention back to who He is.

“He is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary.”

That matters because the people are faint and weary. And the instruction to wait on the Lord is grounded first in the character of the One they are waiting on.

You do not wait on someone whose character is uncertain.

Waiting requires a reason to trust that the One you are waiting on is trustworthy, present, and purposeful.

And then comes the promise in verse 31.

“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.”

The language escalates. Mounting up with wings. Running. Walking.

Not just surviving. Not just getting through.

Renewed strength.

And that strength is not the energy that comes when circumstances improve.

That kind of energy everyone has. When things get better, people feel better.

The strength Isaiah describes is available in the middle of circumstances that have not changed.

Because it does not come from the circumstances. It comes from the Lord.

So what does this kind of waiting actually involve?

It involves trusting the character of God when your circumstances are not confirming what you know to be true about Him.

That is harder than it sounds.

It is easy to trust God when things are going well. That is not faith — that is gratitude. Faith is the sustained orientation toward God when everything around you is giving you reasons to doubt.

It involves continuing to seek God’s presence, His word, and His community even when the felt sense of His nearness is low.

Psalm 27:14 says: “Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.”

Be strong. Take courage.

These are active commands. Not feelings to wait for, but postures to choose.

Genuine waiting on God is not passive. It is doing everything you know to do while trusting God with what you cannot.

It is continuing to obey in the areas that are clear while trusting Him with the areas that are not.

It is maintaining your orientation toward God rather than turning away in frustration when He does not move on your preferred timeline.

Now I want to be careful here, because the language of waiting on God can be misused.

It can be used to delay what God has already made clear.

We talked about that in the episode on delayed obedience.

If God has already spoken, if the direction is already clear, then the appropriate response is not more waiting.

Waiting on God is not a synonym for stalling on God.

The difference is in the orientation.

Genuine waiting is asking: God, I do not yet have clarity. I am trusting you with this. I am staying present to you and to your word while I wait for your direction.

Stalling sounds like: God, I have the clarity. I know what you said. But I am not ready. So I will call this waiting until I am.

One is faith. The other is delay with a spiritual name.

But for the person who is in a genuinely uncertain season — who is not avoiding direction that has been given, but trusting God with a situation that has not yet resolved — the promise of Isaiah 40 is real.

Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.

The renewal is not elsewhere. It is in the waiting itself.

In the sustained trust. In the continued orientation toward God when nothing around you feels like confirmation.

In the refusal to act out of fear or impatience just to relieve the tension of uncertainty.

In the patient, active, costly posture of trusting that God is present, purposeful, and reliable even when you cannot yet see what He is doing.

So here are the questions I want to leave with you.

Are you genuinely waiting on God, or are you using the language of waiting to avoid something He has already made clear?

If you are genuinely waiting, what does your waiting posture look like? Are you staying close to God and His word while you wait, or have you drifted in the uncertainty?

And in what area is God asking you to trust His character and His timing over your own preferred timeline?

Wait on the Lord.

Not passively. Not indefinitely. But actively, expectantly, trusting the One who does not faint and does not grow weary.

This is Know God. Now Go.

Segment Notes

Segment 1: Two Kinds of Waiting

• Passive suspension (hoping things change while doing nothing)
• Active orientation (sustained trust and engagement while circumstances have not changed)
• Frame early: both can use the same language; the distinction is in the posture

Suggested lines:

The word waiting in most people’s experience means inactivity with hope attached. But the waiting Isaiah describes looks nothing like inactivity. It is one of the most demanding things a person of faith can do.

Segment 2: Isaiah 40 in Context

• The exhausted people — the circumstances are real and the weariness is real
• God draws their attention to His character before making the promise
• The promise is grounded in who He is, not in what circumstances look like

Suggested lines:

Isaiah does not offer the promise of renewal to people who have had an easy time and are doing fine. He offers it to people who are faint and weary, who have good reason to be discouraged, and who need a ground for trust that is larger than their circumstances.

Segment 3: What Active Waiting Involves

• Trusting God’s character when circumstances do not confirm it
• Continuing to seek His presence, word, and community
• Psalm 27:14: “be strong, and let your heart take courage” — active commands

Suggested transition:

Active waiting is doing everything you know to do while trusting God with what you cannot do. It is not a suspension of faith. It is faith under sustained pressure.

Segment 4: Waiting vs. Stalling

• Return to the delay theme from episode 10 in a new frame
• The distinction: genuine uncertainty vs. sitting on direction already received
• Waiting on God is not synonymous with avoiding what God has already made clear

Suggested lines:

Genuine waiting asks: God, I do not yet have clarity, and I am trusting you with this. Stalling says: I have the clarity, but I am not ready. They are not the same. And confusing them is costly.

Segment 5: What Genuine Waiting Produces

• The strength Isaiah promises is not the energy of improving circumstances
• It is available in the middle of what has not changed
• The renewal is in the waiting itself — in the sustained orientation of trust

Suggested close:

The strength you receive from waiting on God is not the relief of circumstances improving. It is something deeper — the kind of strength that has been proven through sustained trust in a God who has not moved on your timeline but has never left your side.

Reflection Questions

• Am I genuinely waiting on God for clarity, or using the language of waiting to avoid what has already been made clear?
• What does my waiting posture actually look like — am I staying close to God while I wait?
• Is there an area where impatience is pushing me toward premature action?
• What does trusting God’s character and timing look like in the specific situation I am in?

Recording Notes

• Read Isaiah 40:28–31 in full. Do not just quote verse 31 in isolation — the context of God’s character is essential.
• Let the image of mounting up with wings, running, and walking land. These are vivid and concrete.
• The distinction between waiting and stalling should be clear but not harsh — people in genuine uncertainty need to feel seen, not accused.
• End with the encouragement that the renewal is real and available now, not just when circumstances resolve.