Don’t Waste the Wait
Sermon notes from “Don’t Waste the Wait,” preached by J.C. Thompson at Brookwood Church in the Kingdom Men and Women series.
Worship and Scripture reading
The service opened by celebrating the new life God gives through Jesus, then turned to Hannah’s story of waiting, anguish, and prayer.
4 And whenever the day came for Elkanah to present his sacrifice, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters.
5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved her even though the LORD had closed her womb.
6 Because the LORD had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival would provoke her and taunt her viciously.
7 And this went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat.
8 “Hannah, why are you crying?” her husband Elkanah asked. “Why won’t you eat? Why is your heart so grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
9 So after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.
10 In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.
11 And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever come over his head.”
12 As Hannah kept on praying before the LORD, Eli watched her mouth.
13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and though her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk
14 and said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine!”
15 “No, my lord,” Hannah replied. “I am a woman oppressed in spirit. I have not had any wine or strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the LORD.
16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; for all this time I have been praying out of the depth of my anguish and grief.”
17 “Go in peace,” Eli replied, “and may the God of Israel grant the petition you have asked of Him.”
18 “May your maidservant find favor with you,” said Hannah. Then she went on her way, and she began eating again, and her face was no longer downcast.
Don’t Waste the Wait
We do not like waiting. We want answers, change, and relief on our timetable. But God does not operate on our timetable.
Sometimes we pray, believe, and trust, yet days turn into weeks, months, and years without the answer we want.
Waiting doesn’t just test our patience. It reveals our character.
Waiting can be painful
J.C. shared his own experiences of waiting: a long-distance relationship before marriage, infertility, and the process of finalizing his son’s adoption.
Your waiting may involve a child, a relationship, a physical illness, or something in your character you are asking God to transform.
We want God to work something out in our circumstances, but God is more concerned about working something in us.
Three choices while you wait
Hannah knew what it meant to pray year after year without seeing an answer. Her story shows three choices kingdom men and women can make:
- Choose faithfulness over frustration.
- Turn your pain into prayer.
- Release the outcome to God.
1. Choose faithfulness over frustration
Year after year, Elkanah and his family traveled to Shiloh to worship and offer sacrifices. Shiloh was the center of Israel’s worship, where the tabernacle was located.
Hannah desperately wanted a child. Each return to worship was also another reminder that her prayer remained unanswered.
7 And this went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival taunted her until she wept and would not eat.
Three things intensified Hannah’s pain
- An unanswered desire. She wanted a child but was unable to conceive.
- Someone else’s provocation. Peninnah, Elkanah’s other wife, had children and repeatedly irritated Hannah.
- Love that did not fully understand. Elkanah loved Hannah and gave her a double portion, but his efforts to comfort her did not remove her grief.
Sometimes you can be surrounded by people who love you and still feel alone in what you are going through.
Comparison can deepen disappointment
We do not need someone like Peninnah nearby to be reminded of what we lack. Social media constantly shows us what other people have.
Someone else appears to be living their best life, buying something new, or enjoying the getaway we have been praying for.
Will we remain faithful when someone else seems to be experiencing the blessing we have wanted?
A word to those facing infertility
Your struggle to have a child is not a reflection of your worth, your faith, or God’s love for you. Having children is not what makes you a complete man or woman.
I cannot promise that your story will end the way Hannah’s did. But the same God who saw Hannah in her suffering sees you in yours.
As a church, we want to be people who do not minimize pain, but walk alongside those carrying it.
Faithfulness does not mean you are not hurting
Hannah wept and would not eat. Yet she kept showing up to worship the Lord.
Being faithful to God does not mean you do not experience pain. It means your hurt does not have to drive you away from God. It can draw you closer to Him.
“Who we become while we are waiting is much more important than the thing we are waiting for.”
John Ortberg
3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
What is waiting producing in you?
Trials can produce perseverance and mature faith. But waiting does not automatically produce maturity. What matters is how we respond and whether we submit ourselves to God.
Some things develop through our actions. Others, including patience, develop through our reactions to difficulty.
Waiting can strengthen perseverance and expose places where our trust in God needs to grow.
Do not let waiting become wandering
What has frustration caused you to stop doing that faithfulness is calling you to start doing again?
Keep seeking God. Keep worshiping Him. Keep doing what He has called you to do.
Not because doing the right things guarantees the answer you want, but because God is worthy even when you do not receive what you ask for.
2. Turn your pain into prayer
Hannah’s faithfulness brought her to the place of worship. Her pain drove her to prayer.
She did not pretend everything was okay, hide her emotions, or manufacture a positive attitude. She brought her anguish into God’s presence.
10 In her bitter distress, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.
11 And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever come over his head.”
Bring God your honest pain
Eli mistook Hannah’s prayer for drunkenness. Hannah explained that she was deeply troubled and pouring out her soul to the Lord.
She was honest with God and with Eli. She told God about her hurt, disappointment, and desperation.
God does not require you to disguise your pain before you bring it to Him.
Faith knows where to take pain
Strong faith does not mean never crying, questioning, or admitting that you are struggling.
Faith does not mean pretending your pain does not exist. Faith means knowing where to take it.
Prayer is not pretending you are strong. Prayer is where you acknowledge that you are weak.
Prolonged disappointment can make pain the center of your story. Hannah shows another way: take the very thing breaking your heart and bring it before the Lord.
Worry and prayer
- Worry keeps rehearsing the problem. Prayer brings the problem to God.
- Worry convinces you everything depends on your effort and strength. Prayer reminds you of your dependence on God.
We can spend hours rehearsing a difficult conversation or worrying about an uncertain outcome. How does that compare with the time we spend praying?
Do we pray as though God can do something?
Prayer changes more than circumstances
God desires to change us through prayer, not just answer us through prayer.
Sometimes His greatest work is not changing what is happening around us, but deepening our dependence on Him.
Our requests matter to God. He pays attention to His children. But prayer is more than presenting requests. It is learning to cultivate a relationship of trust.
Hannah’s vow
Hannah asked for a son and promised to dedicate him to lifelong service to the Lord. Her promise that no razor would touch his head reflected a Nazirite vow.
Her vow was not a formula for getting what she wanted. It revealed a heart willing to recognize that the child belonged to God.
Our children belong to God first
God loves your child more than you do. He imagined and created your child, and He has a plan that may not match the plan you would choose.
J.C. recalled how his father arranged a difficult summer job installing commercial kitchen equipment. It was not the work he would have chosen, but he came to see how his father wanted to form something in him through it.
When you or your child face something you would not choose, ask God: “What do You want me to know?”
Keep your hands open
Bring your requests to God with open hands.
Open hands express a willingness to receive. They also express a willingness to release what God has given.
When we receive something precious, we can close our hands around it, including our picture of what we want for our children.
Keep your hands open in faith: “God, I love what You have given me, but my life is Yours.”
3. Release the outcome to God
After praying, Hannah went her way, ate something, and was no longer downcast.
She was not pregnant yet. Her answer had not arrived. Eli had offered a blessing, and Hannah returned to her life with a different countenance.
She came carrying a burden and left able to take a step forward without having all the answers.
18 “May your maidservant find favor with you,” said Hannah. Then she went on her way, and she began eating again, and her face was no longer downcast.
7 Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
Give your anxiety to God
J.C. pictured casting anxiety as urgently throwing off something too heavy to carry, rather than carefully polishing it before handing it over.
Identify what you are feeling and talk to God about it. You do not need perfect emotional understanding before you pray.
Allow Him to interpret and transform what you bring.
Surrender acknowledges that you do not control God’s timing or every outcome, but you can trust His character.
Do not put your life on hold
Waiting can make us believe life will begin when we finally receive what we want: “I’ll be happy when…” or “I’ll start serving God when…”
Hannah returned to ordinary life even though her longing remained unresolved.
Do not become so focused on what you are waiting for that you neglect what God has already put in front of you. You still have people to love, responsibilities to fulfill, and opportunities to serve.
Confidence in God, not an answer
Hannah eventually received a son and fulfilled her vow to the Lord. The annual worship gathering that had brought reminders of pain became an opportunity to see Samuel as he grew in service to God.
But God’s faithfulness is not measured by whether He gives us the outcome we desire. The God who cared for Hannah before Samuel was born cared for her afterward.
Faith does not require knowing what God will do next. It requires trusting the God who does.
Who am I becoming while I wait?
Hannah wanted a child, but God was preparing a prophet. Samuel would help lead Israel from the time of the judges into the time of the kings.
Instead of asking only, “What am I waiting for?” ask, “Who am I becoming while I wait?”
- Choose faithfulness over frustration.
- Turn your pain into prayer.
- Release the outcome and trust God.
Do not put today’s obedience on hold while waiting for tomorrow’s answer.
A prayer while you wait
Jesus demonstrated trust in the Father’s will as He prayed in Gethsemane.
Whatever answer, relationship, or difficult chapter you are waiting on, ask:
“God, who are You calling me to become in my circumstances?”
Lord, help us hear You clearly and trust You as a loving Father. Give us courage to seek prayer and let others walk alongside us. Make us men and women who live faithfully in difficult times. Amen.
