Waiting can be endured. Waiting can be avoided. Waiting can be abhorred.

Waiting can also be chosen. Because Waiting Isn’t a Waste, according to a new book by pastor Mark Vroegop of College Park Church in Indianapolis. Mark offers surprising comfort from trusting God in the uncertainties of life. He defines waiting this way: “Waiting on God is living on what I know to be true about God when I don’t know what’s true about my life.”

Waiting is unavoidable. But Mark wants us to see that waiting isn’t incidental. It’s essential to discipleship. He writes, “The more I’ve studied waiting in the Bible, the more I’m stunned. It’s all over the Scriptures. It’s a key part of most spiritual leaders’ story. It’s a central part of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.”

Central part of what it means to be a follower of Jesus? Then we should pay close attention. Consider: what would your older self want to tell your younger self about waiting? I asked Mark, and he gave this answer: “I’ve spent probably too much energy in my lifetime, being overly concerned, overly worried, overly active when the fact of the matter is God’s the one who does the work. So work hard, but know where those boundaries are. And I think that would have helped me had I understood that in my younger years.”

I hope you enjoy the rest of our conversation—listening, while you’re waiting.