What do I do when I'm waiting on a plan?

Waiting appears in the ordinary and the catastrophic alike, and the biblical narrative reframes waiting as purposeful rather than purposeless. The book of Jeremiah provides the primary lens: exiles in Babylon receive a letter that does not promise immediate rescue but instead issues concrete instructions for life during delay. The letter urges the exiles to build homes, plant gardens, marry, raise children, work for the welfare of the city, and pray for its prosperity. Those commands make waiting an active season, a time to cultivate community, nurture growth, and participate in the common good even while hopeful longings remain unrealized.

The promise that precedes and follows these commands anchors the practice of patient endurance. God declares plans for welfare and hope, yet the timeline includes seventy years of exile. The presence of a future guarantee does not cancel the intervening season of waiting; instead, the waiting becomes the venue in which God’s purposes continue to unfold. The narrative warns against false assurances that bypass the discipline of waiting and insists that some divine plans require sustained, ordinary faithfulness.

This theological arc culminates in the new covenant inaugurated in Christ. The new covenant embodies the movement from prophetic promise to fulfilled redemption, tying the patient longings of the exiles to the sacrificial and restorative work of Jesus. Communion stands as the visible sign that God’s long-range plan aims at reconciliation, restoration, and a durable hope that holds both present waiting and promised future together.

Practical implications emerge plainly: waiting need not become spiritual stagnation. The text gives concrete practices for seasons of delay—work that serves others, relational investment, disciplined prayer, and stewardship of daily life. The waiting season can thus participate in God’s plan rather than merely postpone it. The life of faith moves between present obedience and future trust, treating waiting as a stage where God shapes character, community, and vocation while keeping faith anchored in the assurance that God’s declared purposes will come to pass.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Waiting can be Godly plan [08:21] Waiting sometimes forms part of God’s intentional design rather than a mere hiatus before action. Accepting that the plan may include delay reframes anxious questions into opportunities for discernment and obedience. That posture allows faith to mature around trust in God’s timing rather than instant resolution. [08:21]
• 2. Invest in ordinary, faithful work [15:04] Practical tasks during waiting—building homes, planting, working for the city—become avenues for participating in God’s purposes. These actions refuse spiritual passivity and root hope in concrete service to neighbors. Such work reshapes identity away from immediate success toward faithful stewardship of the present. [15:04]
• 3. Promises do not remove waiting [18:45] Divine promises carry hope but may still require extended seasons of patience, as the seventy years of exile illustrate. Holding both assurance and delay resists simplistic readings that equate promise with instant deliverance. Endurance refines trust and preserves hope across uneven timelines. [18:45]
• 4. The new covenant secures hope [23:13] The covenant inaugurated in Christ translates prophetic promises into a salvific reality that unites present waiting with a guaranteed future. Communion symbolizes that the labor and loss of exile fit within a larger story of reconciliation. This assurance invites obedient participation now, grounded in the conviction that God will fulfill what has been promised. [23:13]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:41] - Pizza story and the experience of waiting
• [02:53] - Series context and unexpected delays
• [05:07] - Tension between human plans and God’s plan
• [09:22] - Jeremiah’s context: exile and warning
• [15:04] - Instructions for life during exile
• [18:45] - Promise, hope, and the role of waiting
• [22:50] - Prophecy pointing to the new covenant
• [23:13] - Communion and the new covenant explained
• [26:43] - Prayer, response, and invitation

Bible Reading
Jeremiah 29:4-7 (ESV)
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”

Jeremiah 29:10-14 (ESV)
“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

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Observation Questions

1. What specific instructions does God give the exiles in Jeremiah 29:4-7 for their time in Babylon?
2. How does God frame the relationship between the exiles’ actions (e.g., building homes, praying for Babylon) and their own welfare?
3. In Jeremiah 29:10, what does God say about the timeline for fulfilling His promise to the exiles?
4. According to the sermon, how does the New Covenant connect to the exiles’ experience of waiting? ([23:13])

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Interpretation Questions

1. Why might God command the exiles to invest in their temporary home (e.g., building, planting, marrying) instead of just waiting passively for rescue?
2. How does the 70-year timeline in Jeremiah 29:10 challenge the idea that God’s promises always lead to immediate deliverance?
3. The sermon mentions that “waiting can be part of God’s intentional design.” How does Jeremiah 29:4-14 redefine waiting as purposeful rather than passive?
4. How does the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Luke 22:20) provide a framework for enduring seasons of waiting with hope?

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Application Questions

1. What ordinary, daily practices (e.g., work, relationships, prayer) could you intentionally invest in during a current or future season of waiting? How might these actions reflect trust in God’s timing?
2. The exiles were told to “seek the welfare of the city” while in exile. What specific ways can you work for the good of your community, even if you feel stuck in a waiting season?
3. When have you been tempted to believe God’s promises should eliminate the need for waiting? How can you cultivate patience while holding onto hope?
4. The sermon emphasizes that “waiting time is not wasted time.” What mindset shifts do you need to make to see your current circumstances as part of God’s unfolding plan?
5. Communion is described as a sign of God’s “durable hope.” How can regularly reflecting on Christ’s sacrifice strengthen your resolve to wait faithfully?
6. Identify one area where you’ve been passive in a season of waiting. What concrete step could you take this week to actively participate in God’s purposes?
7. How might praying for the “prosperity” of challenging relationships, workplaces, or communities (as the exiles did for Babylon) change your perspective on waiting?