The Scriptures contain many stories of people who waited years

The words of Charles Stanley, shepherd of souls and teacher of faith, strike with the solemn weight of eternity: “The Scriptures contain many stories of people who waited years or even decades before the Lord's promises came to pass. What modern believers can learn from the patience of biblical saints like Abraham, Joseph, David, and Paul is that waiting upon the Lord has eternal rewards.” In this saying lies the essence of spiritual endurance: that the hand of God does not move at the rhythm of man, but at the rhythm of eternity, and that patience is the bridge between the promise and its fulfillment.

The meaning begins with the acknowledgment that the Scriptures are filled with lives tested by waiting. Abraham was promised descendants as numerous as the stars, yet he walked through years of barrenness before Isaac was born. Joseph, betrayed by his brothers and cast into slavery and prison, endured long years of injustice before rising to power in Egypt. David, anointed as king in his youth, fled for his life through deserts and caves before the crown was placed upon his head. Paul, transformed by Christ, bore chains, persecutions, and rejection as he awaited the crown of glory promised in heaven. Each of these stories reveals that the promises of God are sure, but their unfolding demands endurance.

Stanley reminds us that waiting upon the Lord is not a passive state, but an act of faith. To wait is to trust, to hold firm when the world urges haste, to believe when evidence is scarce, and to remain faithful when delay seems endless. This is why he declares that such waiting has eternal rewards. For the delays of God are not denials; they are the chisels with which He carves character, the fires through which He purifies the soul, the training ground for greater responsibility. The saint who learns patience learns not only how to endure, but how to walk in alignment with divine time.

History outside of Scripture also bears witness to this truth. Consider Nelson Mandela, who waited twenty-seven years in prison before his dream of a free South Africa came to pass. Though not a biblical saint, his story mirrors the same principle: that waiting, endured with faith and conviction, prepares a person to carry greater responsibility when the appointed time arrives. Had Mandela been freed earlier, perhaps his leadership would not have carried the same depth of wisdom and humility. So too in Scripture — Joseph’s years of trial prepared him to save nations in famine; David’s years of exile shaped him into a king after God’s heart.

The teaching is clear: patience in faith is not wasted time but sacred preparation. The modern believer, caught in the rush of instant gratification, must remember the rhythm of God is not bound by clocks or calendars. The eternal rewards promised are not only blessings in this life but crowns in the life to come. Waiting with trust transforms impatience into strength, despair into hope, and delay into testimony.

The lesson for us is timeless and urgent. Do not despise the seasons of waiting. If the promise delays, do not abandon it. Instead, hold fast, like Abraham beneath the stars, like Joseph in the prison cell, like David in the wilderness, like Paul in the dungeon. Know that the same God who was faithful then is faithful now. The world rewards haste, but heaven rewards endurance. And the greatest victories are given not to those who run the fastest, but to those who wait with unwavering trust.

Practical action follows from this wisdom. When faced with delay, turn to prayer instead of panic. Use the waiting season to cultivate faith, to sharpen character, and to strengthen your walk with God. Seek not shortcuts, for they rob you of the refining process. Surround yourself with the stories of those who endured, for their testimonies will remind you that you are not alone. And above all, lift your eyes beyond the present moment, for eternal rewards await those who wait upon the Lord.

Thus let Stanley’s words be carried as a sacred truth across generations: waiting upon the Lord is never wasted. The promises of men may fail, but the promises of God endure. And though they may delay, when they come, they will be greater than imagined, and the patient soul will rejoice that it endured to see the glory of God revealed.