So let's talk about the main reason of this kind of message shown on WhatsApp.
What is End to End Encryption Basics
This is because WhatsApp usage the End To End Encryption, to provide the best privacy and security to its user, by encrypting users message so that only the recipient and sender can see the message sent to each other, first of all to use the End to End Encryption on whatsapp we need to have the latest version of WhatsApp on our Android or i-Phone, after this when we send a message to our friend or anyone whatsapp creates two keys one public key and one private key, each person using whatsapp are assigned with one private and public key, so when you send a message to someone it encrypts your message with your private key and sends your public key with the message and then user can see your message because they have a public key assigned with that message, this all happens in the back end so you don't need to worry about it.So basically if you send a message on WhatApp, its actually not hack able, no one can see your messages except the recipient, this is one of the great thing in the internet today.
so now come back to point why you are not able to see your friends message on WhatsApp, only getting an error such Waiting For this message,
How to Fix
Seeing "Waiting for this message. This may take a while."
At times, you may see the above message in place of what you were sent from a contact. Due to end-to-end encryption, you may need to wait for someone's message to arrive because their phone needs to come online and properly encrypt the message for you. This can typically occur if you or the person you're chatting with recently reinstalled WhatsApp.
To speed up this process, ask the person you're messaging to open WhatsApp on their phone.
For more information about End-to-End Encryption, please read this article.
At times, you may see the above message in place of what you were sent from a contact. Due to end-to-end encryption, you may need to wait for someone's message to arrive because their phone needs to come online and properly encrypt the message for you. This can typically occur if you or the person you're chatting with recently reinstalled WhatsApp.
To speed up this process, ask the person you're messaging to open WhatsApp on their phone.
For more information about End-to-End Encryption, please read this article.