3 Ways to Be Still Before the Lord in a Waiting Season

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.” (Psalm 37:7 NIV)

3 Ways to Be Still Before the Lord in a Waiting Season

Psalm 37 was written by King David for moments when life feels unfair. You know, those hard seasons when we watch other people receive answers and step into things we’ve been praying for, while we continue on quietly in obedience.

We pray. We remain faithful. And still, we wait some more. Eventually, questions start to rise up: Did I hear God wrong? Did I miss my moment? Why does obedience seem to be costing me while everyone else is moving ahead?

It is into this very tension that Scripture speaks gently, but firmly:
“Be still before the LORD…”

Waiting is one of the hardest parts of the Christian life. Not because we don’t love God, but because we struggle to trust what we cannot yet see. But there’s something beautiful tucked into this verse that we can easily overlook.

God doesn’t simply tell us to be still.
He tells us to be still before Him.

That word before changes the posture of our waiting.

It reminds us that while we wait, we are positioned in His presence. We are not abandoned somewhere behind Jesus, trying desperately to keep up with Him.

We are before Him …
Close enough to seek His face.
Close enough to hear His voice.
Close enough to remember His presence is not merely the consolation prize while we wait for His promise.

And His presence is the safest place for us to wait. So, how do we learn to be still before the Lord when waiting feels especially hard?

Be still before His face, not before your circumstances.

Waiting has a way of making us stare at everything that isn’t happening for us, doesn’t it? The unanswered prayer. The closed door. The passing years. The person who seems further ahead.

But being still before the Lord means deliberately turning our attention from what we cannot control to the One who holds us.

Instead of continually asking, “God, when will this change?” we can begin asking, “Jesus, what do You want me to see in You here?”

Sometimes the greatest work God does in the waiting seasons is not changing our circumstances, but changing what holds our gaze. Stillness begins when His face becomes more compelling than our timeline.

Let Scripture quiet the story fear is telling you.

Waiting rarely stays silent. When God seems quiet, fear often starts narrating:

You missed it!
God has forgotten you!
Everyone else is moving forward!
Maybe you should make something happen for yourself!

This is why waiting well requires more than positive thinking. We need HIS truth.

Return to Scripture. Read it slowly. Meditate on it. Pray it back to God.

The Book of Psalms is my favorite place to do this when times are tough and I feel so unsettled. Psalms can be personalized and read back to God as guided prayers when we just can’t seem to find the words. I also do this with strategic verses found throughout the Bible that speak into my specific emotions or situation.

In this way, HIS Words become louder than the conclusions we are tempted to draw from what we can currently see or not see.

Psalm 37 reminds us not to measure God’s faithfulness by someone else’s apparent progress. What looks like delay from our perspective is not evidence of neglect from His. God’s Word steadies us until our hearts can say, “I don’t understand what You are doing, Lord, but I know and trust who You are.”

Stop striving to manufacture what only God can give.

Waiting can make us restless. We begin looking for shortcuts, forcing doors open, overanalyzing conversations, comparing timelines, or trying to create the outcome we thought God had promised us.

But stillness is not passivity.
Stillness is surrendered trust.

It is continuing to obey without trying to control the result.

It is saying:

I will do the last thing You asked me to do.
I will remain faithful where You planted me.
I will not compromise my integrity in this moment.
And I will trust You with what happens next.

There are some doors we do not have to force.
Some opportunities we do not have to chase.
Some timelines we do not have to manipulate.

Think about Joseph and all the years he waited on the Lord to come through for him. Then one day, Pharoah sent for Joseph and he was quickly brought up out of the pit to come in before the Pharoah (Gen 41:14 ESV). If Joseph had focused all his time on desperately devising an escape plan, he wouldn’t have been where he needed to be when God suddenly moved to raise him up.

When God is leading us, we can trust Him to make the next step clear in His right time. So if you are in a hard waiting season today, remember:

You are not merely waiting for God to show up.
You are waiting before God.

There is a difference.

In closing, please know you were not forgotten in some hallway while everyone else gets called into the room. You are positioned right where you need to be in the very presence of Jesus, and, at the right moment, He will suddenly move.

Look at His face.
Listen to His Words.
Release your timeline.

And when your heart starts asking, “Did I miss my moment?” return again to the invitation of Psalm 37: Be still before the Lord. The One you are waiting with is even more precious than the thing you are waiting for.

Live loved in Christ,