Dealing with a Frustrating Delay? Know that God is Working in the Waiting.

Ever wrestled with silence, unsure of what to do next? Have you felt stuck, believing that God remembers you, yet feeling forgotten because of the delay? If so, this devotion from Dianna Hobbs offers a powerful word of encouragement just for you.

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Waiting can be aggravating. Discouraging. Stressful. Confusing. Leaving you asking, what is God doing?

But today, God said, “Tell My people, I’m still working in the waiting. Things are shifting even when it feels like they’re standing still. I’m up to something great!”

Isn’t that a mighty good word from the Lord? He dropped it in my spirit during my private devotion time. When He said share it, I didn’t hesitate.

And here’s something else He told me to tell you.

Over the weekend, I walked into a Sunday morning service for the first time since 2019. Maybe that doesn’t sound earth-shattering. But for me, it was nothing short of a miracle.

It will be six years in August since a ministroke and traumatic brain injury rewrote the script of my life and shut everything down. My immune system turned fragile. My anxiety ran wild. My PTSD flared up without warning. I could no longer walk through the doors of a physical church building. I’ve been faithful online, praying in private, but I hadn’t set foot inside a Sunday sanctuary, until now.

When I finally did, I wept. I worshiped. I lifted trembling arms and let the tears fall as the wind of the Holy Spirit swept over me. It wasn’t easy. My nerves were shredded. My body is still rebuilding. My mind is still mending. But I showed up, and God met me and fed me there.

Back in March, I felt the Lord nudge me to host a prayer service and preach. I said yes. That was my official first time back in a sanctuary since 2019. But afterward, I got sick, knocked flat for more than a month! My immune system took another hit. I’ve been recovering, slowly.

I don’t know when I’ll be strong enough to gather with the saints in person consistently. But here’s what I do know: God is faithful. He hasn’t forgotten me, just as He didn’t forget Noah in Genesis 8, the passage He led me to this morning.

The first verse says it all: “But God remembered Noah…” (Genesis 8:1, NIV).

That tiny phrase marks the turning point of the flood story.

But if you look closely, you’ll notice something: even after God remembered Noah, the doors of the ark didn’t swing open. The ground didn’t dry up overnight. The waiting wasn’t over.

How Long

Noah, his family, and every creature on the ark still had a long journey ahead. Over a year would pass from the first raindrop to the moment they finally stepped onto dry ground. The rain itself lasted 40 days and 40 nights (Genesis 7:12). Then floodwaters covered the earth for another 150 days (Genesis 7:24).

Even after the storm ended, the waiting didn’t.

The ark eventually came to rest (Genesis 8:4), but months passed as the waters slowly receded. Mountaintops began to appear (Genesis 8:5), and the ground gradually dried out (Genesis 8:13).

 Not until the 27th day of the second month of the following year did God finally tell Noah it was time to leave the ark (Genesis 8:14–16).

Altogether, Noah and his family spent just over a year, about 370 days, shut inside, waiting for God’s signal that it was safe to begin again.

That’s the part we rarely talk about: how long the waiting really lasts.

Sometimes the hardest part of faith isn’t surviving the storm; it’s enduring the slow, silent stretch that comes after. The days, weeks, or even years when the only thing to do is trust that God hasn’t forgotten you.

And that’s something we often struggle to accept: just because God promises a thing doesn’t mean the fulfillment will come right away. Sometimes, God remembers and still asks you to wait.

But hear me: delay is not denial.

Jesus Said

When you’re weary from the waiting and your soul feels empty, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35, NIV).

When it looks like you won’t survive this season—when it feels like everything has died, from your strength to your dreams, and you're standing in the rubble of what once was—Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live” (John 11:25, NIV).

Friend, you’ve got to believe. Believe He’s making a way. Believe He’s opening doors.

Believe He’s chasing away the darkness. Believe He’s filling every void. Believe He’s resurrecting and restoring. Believe He’s working while you’re waiting!

Was this devotion a blessing to you? Read the full message—and discover more like it—on Dianna’s official blog at YourDailyCupOfInspiration.com.