Waiting is its own kind of hard, because there's nothing to do and everything to feel. The Bible talks about waiting more than you'd expect, and almost never as wasted time. In Hebrew, the word for 'wait' is close to 'hope.'
For waiting
Psalm 27:14
Wait for Yahweh. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for Yahweh.
World English Bible (WEB)
'Wait for Yahweh' appears twice in one verse, with 'be strong and let your heart take courage' between them. The repetition matters: waiting is something you decide again after you've already decided it. The psalm was written under threat, so this isn't waiting in comfort.
Psalm 27:14
Wait for Yahweh. Be strong, and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for Yahweh.
World English Bible (WEB) · Psalm (poetry)
'Wait for Yahweh' appears twice in one verse, with 'be strong and let your heart take courage' between them. The repetition matters: waiting is something you decide again after you've already decided it. The psalm was written under threat, so this isn't waiting in comfort.
Isaiah 40:31
but those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run, and not be weary. They will walk, and not faint.
World English Bible (WEB) · Prophecy
Strength is renewed in those who wait, not after the waiting ends. The famous images (eagles, running, walking) descend in intensity, and the last one, walking without fainting, is the most relevant to a long wait. The chapter is addressed to exiles who thought God had forgotten them.
Lamentations 3:25-26
Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh.
World English Bible (WEB) · Poetry
'It is good that a man should hope and quietly wait.' This is in the middle of Lamentations, a book written in ruins. The writer isn't waiting in a pleasant place. He's saying that quiet waiting is good even here, which is a stronger claim than it sounds.
Psalm 37:7
Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him. Don’t fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who makes wicked plots happen.
World English Bible (WEB) · Psalm (poetry)
'Rest in Yahweh, and wait patiently for him' is paired with 'don't fret' about people who seem to be getting ahead. Waiting is hard partly because others don't seem to be. This psalm names that specific irritation and says let it go.
Habakkuk 2:3
For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won’t prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won’t delay.
World English Bible (WEB) · Prophecy
God tells the prophet the answer is coming at an appointed time: 'Though it takes time, wait for it.' The original context is national, but the sentence is about any promise that's true and not yet visible. Delay is admitted openly; the delay isn't the same as denial.
Micah 7:7
But as for me, I will look to Yahweh. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
World English Bible (WEB) · Prophecy
'I will look. I will wait. My God will hear me.' Three short sentences of resolve, from a prophet surrounded by corruption with no reason for optimism. It's a good verse to say out loud when the waiting has gone on longer than you thought it would.
Psalm 40:1-2
I waited patiently for Yahweh. He turned to me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand.
World English Bible (WEB) · Psalm (poetry)
'I waited patiently' and then, in past tense, God heard, lifted, set on rock. It's testimony from the far side of a wait. Reading it doesn't shorten yours, but it tells you what the other side has looked like for someone before.
In the Psalms and Isaiah it means holding onto God with expectation while nothing has changed yet. The Hebrew word is closely related to 'hope.' It's active trust, not passive resignation.
Psalm 27:14 is one verse and can be memorized quickly. Micah 7:7 is three short sentences.