The short answer is no.
The phrase “good things come to those who wait” does not appear anywhere in the Bible.
It is one of the most widely quoted phrases in Christian culture, attached to the concept of patience and often offered as comfort during seasons of waiting.
But it originated not in Scripture but in secular literature, most commonly attributed to the English poet Lady Mary Montgomerie Currie in the late 19th century, though similar expressions appeared earlier.
The danger is not the sentiment itself.
The danger is what gets lost when a cultural proverb replaces the actual biblical teaching on waiting, which is far more demanding, far more specific, and far more powerful.
Where the Phrase Actually Comes From
It Is Not in the Bible
A thorough search of every major Bible translation, from the King James Version to the English Standard Version, reveals no passage containing this exact phrase or a direct equivalent.
The closest association people make is with Isaiah 40:31, but a comparison of the texts reveals how different they actually are.
Isaiah 40:31 says those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength. It does not say good things will come to them. It says strength comes. The focus is on transformation, not on reward arriving.
The cultural phrase promises a pleasant outcome. The biblical teaching promises something more demanding and more specific: the renewal of the person who waits.
The Misquotation Problem in Christian Culture
This phrase belongs to a category of widely circulated Christian misquotations that include “God helps those who help themselves,” “this too shall pass,” and “money is the root of all evil,” none of which appear in Scripture as commonly quoted.
The misquotation problem matters because it replaces specific, weighty biblical truth with vague cultural sentiment.
Waiting, as the Bible describes it, is not a passive strategy for eventually receiving what you want.
It is a theological posture of active trust in God’s timing and character, with specific promises attached that have nothing to do with whether good things eventually arrive in the sense most people mean.
What the Bible Actually Says About Waiting
Waiting on the Lord Is Not the Same as Waiting for Things
The biblical concept of waiting is almost always directed toward a person, not an outcome.
Isaiah 40:31 says “those who wait for the LORD,” not “those who wait for what God will give them.” The object of the waiting is the Lord himself.
“But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” — ESV, Isaiah 40:31
The promise attached to waiting in this verse is not that good things arrive. The promise is that the person who waits is transformed.
Renewed strength. The capacity to mount up. The endurance to run without weariness and walk without fainting.
These are not rewards that arrive while the person stays the same. They are changes that happen to the person in the process of waiting.
Waiting Is Active, Not Passive
The Hebrew word translated “wait” in Isaiah 40:31 is qavah, which also carries the meaning of hope, expect, and look eagerly.
It is related to the word for cord or thread, suggesting the tension of something drawn out and held.
Biblical waiting is not sitting back and allowing time to pass. It is the sustained, active orientation of the whole person toward God while the answer has not yet come.
David describes it this way:
“Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” — ESV, Psalm 27:14
The command to “be strong” and “take courage” in the middle of waiting establishes that this is not a passive state. It requires intentional engagement, maintained posture, and deliberate choice.
Waiting Is Connected to Trust, Not to Reward
“Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.” — ESV, Psalm 37:3–5, 7
The progression in this psalm is important. The waiting comes at the end of a sequence that begins with trust, doing good, delighting in the Lord, and committing your way to him.
The promise that follows is not that good things will eventually arrive. It is that God will act, which is a different kind of promise.
God acting does not always mean you receive what you hoped for. It means he moves according to his purposes, which include but are not limited to giving you what you requested.
The Waiting That Produces Character
Paul’s treatment of waiting is the most theologically complete in the New Testament.
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” — ESV, Romans 5:3–5
The waiting that happens in suffering produces something, but it is not necessarily external good things.
It produces endurance, then character, then hope. The chain is internal and cumulative.
The person who waits faithfully is not simply positioned for good things to arrive. They are being built into someone who can carry what is coming, whether that is the fulfillment of what they hoped for or something they did not expect.
What the Bible Promises to Those Who Wait
The Bible makes specific, concrete promises to those who wait on the Lord. They are worth knowing exactly.
Promise 1: Renewal of Strength
Isaiah 40:31 promises renewed strength, not comfortable outcomes.
The renewal is specifically for those who are weary, the ones whose strength has run out. God replenishes what the waiting has depleted.
Promise 2: Salvation
“Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!” — ESV, Psalm 31:24
The hope of the waiting person in Psalms is consistently the salvation of the Lord, not the resolution of specific circumstances.
The psalmists who waited longest and with the most intensity fixed their waiting on God’s deliverance, which sometimes looked completely different from what they had prayed for.
Promise 3: Guidance and Instruction
“Make me to know your ways, O LORD; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.” — ESV, Psalm 25:4–5
The waiting person in this psalm is not waiting for good things. They are waiting for direction, for knowledge of God’s ways, for the instruction that only comes from sustained attention to him.
Waiting positions you to hear what you would miss if you moved on prematurely.
Promise 4: God Himself
“My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.” — ESV, Psalm 130:6
The psalmist is not waiting for what God will do. He is waiting for God.
The doubled phrase, “more than watchmen wait for the morning,” repeated twice in the Hebrew for emphasis, describes a longing so intense that the one waiting cannot contain how much they want the arrival.
The ultimate promise to those who wait is not that good things come. It is that God comes.
Why the True Biblical Teaching Is Better Than the Popular Phrase
“Good things come to those who wait” is a comfort that delivers less than it promises.
Good things do not always arrive on the human timeline. The people who waited longest in Scripture, Abraham, Joseph, David, and the disciples from Friday to Sunday, did not simply receive pleasant things after an appropriate delay.
They were formed into people who could receive and steward what God actually had in mind.
The biblical teaching on waiting is better than the popular phrase because it does not set a false expectation and then leave the waiting person confused when good things do not arrive on schedule.
It offers instead the truth that waiting on God produces something in you that arriving at what you wanted cannot produce, and that the God you are waiting for is worth more than any specific outcome you have been hoping for.
What Readers Ask About This Topic
Is “good things come to those who wait” a Bible verse?
No. The phrase does not appear in any translation of the Bible. It is commonly attributed to secular literature, most often to Lady Mary Montgomerie Currie in the 19th century. The Bible does teach that waiting on God produces strength, character, and hope, but not through this phrase.
What Bible verse is closest to “good things come to those who wait”?
Isaiah 40:31 is most commonly associated with this idea: “But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength.” However, the verse does not promise good things will arrive. It promises personal transformation, specifically renewed strength and endurance, for those whose waiting is directed toward God rather than toward outcomes.
What does the Bible say about waiting patiently?
Psalm 27:14 commands strength and courage in waiting. Psalm 37:7 instructs waiting patiently before God without anxiety. Romans 5:3–5 shows that patience in suffering builds endurance, character, and hope. Hebrews 6:12 connects faith and patience as the pathway to inheriting what God has promised. Waiting is always active and faith-based.
Does God promise that waiting will be rewarded?
Yes, but not in the way the popular phrase implies. God promises his presence, renewed strength, guidance, and ultimately the fulfillment of his purposes for those who wait on him. Galatians 6:9 promises that those who do not give up will reap in due season. The reward is real but may not match the specific expectations the waiting person carried.
Why do people misquote the Bible so often?
Because familiar-sounding spiritual phrases are repeated without being verified. Second Timothy 2:15 warns believers to handle the Word of God accurately. Cultural Christianity frequently circulates sentiments that feel biblical because they align with broadly Christian values, but the difference between a cultural proverb and Scripture is the difference between a human opinion and the revealed character of God.
Lord, Let Me Wait on You, Not Just for Things From You
Father, I have been waiting.
And I will be honest: the phrase I have leaned on was not yours.
I have been waiting for things to get better, for circumstances to change, for what I asked for to arrive.
Teach me to wait on you.
Not for what you will give me but for you yourself, the way the watchman waits for the morning.
Let the waiting produce what you promise it produces: strength, endurance, character, hope.
Let me be built into the person who can carry what you have in mind, whether that matches what I asked for or looks entirely different.
And let my waiting be active, not passive: full of trust, full of courage, full of the conviction that you are worth waiting for.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Scholarly and Biblical References
Carson, D. A. (1994). The sermon on the mount: An evangelical exposition of Matthew 5–7. Baker Academic.
Brueggemann, W. (1986). The message of the Psalms: A theological commentary. Augsburg Publishing.
Kidner, D. (1973). Psalms 1–72: Tyndale Old Testament Commentary. InterVarsity Press.
Motyer, J. A. (1993). The prophecy of Isaiah: An introduction and commentary. InterVarsity Press.
Longman, T., III. (2014). Psalms: Tyndale Old Testament Commentary. InterVarsity Press.
Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans: New International Commentary on the New Testament. Eerdmans.
Frame, J. M. (2002). The doctrine of God: A theology of lordship. P&R Publishing.
Goldingay, J. (2006). Psalms 1–41: Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms. Baker Academic.
