When God Delays the Dream: Leading in the Waiting Season

Waiting is one of the hardest disciplines for leaders. When you know God has placed a vision in your heart, yet the doors remain closed or progress feels slow, the temptation is to either force results or abandon the dream altogether. Scripture shows us that waiting seasons are not wasted. They are often the very ground where God shapes leaders for the future He has promised.

Waiting Does Not Mean Wasting

The story of David is a clear example. Anointed by Samuel as the future king of Israel, David did not ascend to the throne immediately. Instead, he spent years tending sheep, serving Saul, and even hiding in caves while his life was threatened. What looked like a delay was actually preparation. His years in obscurity trained him to shepherd God’s people with humility, courage, and deep dependence on the Lord.

Leaders today often face the same tension. You may feel called to build something significant, yet remain in a job, ministry, or environment that seems disconnected from your dream. Rather than despising the waiting, recognize it as God’s workshop where character is forged and skills are refined.

Practical tip: List the areas in your current season that feel mundane or beneath your calling. Ask how God may be using these experiences to strengthen you for future leadership.

Leading Yourself Before Leading Others

God delays the dream to grow you privately before He can trust you publicly. In David’s life, the hidden years built resilience, integrity, and spiritual depth. By the time he was crowned king, his private victories had prepared him for public battles.

As a leader, waiting is your chance to master self-leadership. This includes:

• Cultivating spiritual discipline: Deepen your prayer life, Scripture study, and reliance on God’s voice.

• Strengthening emotional maturity: Practice patience, forgiveness, and humility in relationships.

• Developing practical skills: Use this time to sharpen your craft, improve communication, or study leadership models.

  
  

Practical tip: Create a personal growth plan during the waiting season. Choose one spiritual discipline, one emotional goal, and one professional skill to intentionally develop over the next three months.

Trusting God’s Timing

The delay of a dream can test your trust in God’s timing. David had multiple opportunities to kill Saul and claim the throne, but he refused. He trusted that the same God who promised the crown would deliver it at the right moment. To take matters into his own hands would have short-circuited God’s plan.

For modern leaders, the temptation to rush ahead is strong. You may feel pressure to grow faster, expand influence, or chase recognition. Yet rushing God’s timing often leads to burnout, conflict, and compromise.

Practical tip: When opportunities present themselves, pause and pray before acting. Ask: Does this align with God’s word, God’s timing, and God’s character? If it compromises any of the three, wait.

Serving Faithfully Where You Are

One of the greatest marks of a leader in the waiting season is faithfulness. David continued to serve Saul with honour, even while being mistreated. His willingness to remain faithful in a difficult environment revealed the posture of his heart.

Leaders in waiting can easily become frustrated with “small assignments.” Yet faithfulness in small things often determines whether God can entrust us with greater responsibility.

Practical tip: Shift your mindset from “I am stuck here” to “I am stewarding here.” Each task, no matter how small, is a chance to demonstrate integrity and diligence.

Leading Others in Their Waiting

Leadership does not pause simply because you are in transition. People around you may also be navigating delays, disappointments, or deferred dreams. By sharing openly about your own waiting season, you create space for encouragement and authenticity.

Paul modeled this in his letters, often writing from prison. Though physically delayed, he continued leading with vision, encouragement, and direction. Your leadership in waiting can inspire others to persevere.

Practical tip: Be transparent with your team or community about the challenges of waiting, while modeling faith and resilience. Your vulnerability can be a catalyst for growth in those you lead.

Anchoring in God’s Promises

Finally, waiting becomes bearable when your heart is anchored in God’s promises. David wrote many psalms during his wilderness years, reminding himself of God’s faithfulness. Anchoring in Scripture is not passive; it is active alignment of your heart with God’s truth.

Verses like Habakkuk 2:3 remind us: “For the vision is yet for an appointed time; it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”

Practical tip: Choose one promise from Scripture that relates to your dream. Write it somewhere visible and declare it daily. Let God’s word shape your perspective more than your circumstances.

Conclusion: Leadership in the Delay

When God delays the dream, it is not rejection but preparation. Like David, you are being formed in the fields and caves so you can stand strong when His promises are fulfilled. Leading in the waiting season means embracing the process, trusting God’s timing, and faithfully stewarding what is in your hand today.

Your dream will not die in the delay. In God’s time, it will be fulfilled, and the fruit of your waiting will be wisdom, strength, and a deeper intimacy with Him.

David Grant is a founder of Odigia Global, a Personal Development Organisation committed to helping you flourish in all your relationships through guidance that works. As a Christian for over 45 years, and a husband, father and spiritual leader for almost half of his life, he is passionate about equipping, empowering and engaging you with the tools to see transformation in every area of your life. Learn more about David and Odigia here.