Readings for the day: Numbers 6, 7, 8, 9
One of the hardest things to learn as a follower of Christ is how to wait. We are always in such a hurry. We rush around in the morning to get off to work and school. We rush around all day at work trying to get things done. We rush around in the evenings to different activities and events. Then we wake up the next day to do it all over again. Furthermore, we live in a world of instant gratification. We get what we want when we want it and woe to anyone who cannot deliver on our timeline! Patience is no longer a virtue in our world. Waiting is considered a waste of time.
The Bible is clear that “waiting” is a key skill for any disciple. Patience is a fruit of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. Long-suffering is something God’s people know intimately. Consider what we read from Numbers today. “On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped...At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.” (Num. 9:15-17, 23) The passage tells us that sometimes they camped for days in one location. Sometimes for hours. The point is Israel didn’t move until God moved. Israel didn’t break camp until God broke camp. Israel was learning how to wait on God.
I’ve been in ministry now for almost twenty years. Over that time, I’ve spent hundreds if not thousands of hours in my office counseling people through all sorts of different seasons in their lives. One of the most common issues I have to address is impatience. It makes total sense. People in crisis want out of crisis as soon as possible! So I get it. However, in their rush to get out of crisis they often jump from the frying pan into the fire. Refusing to wait on God, they prematurely end their marriage. Prematurely cut off a relationship. Prematurely make a professional decision. Prematurely rush into what they think is a solution only to find their supposed “cure” worse than their disease.
God wants us to wait on Him. His time is not our time. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. So often when we wait on God, we don’t understand. I am sure there were moments when Israel looked around and said, “Really God? This is where you want us to camp? This is where you want us to settle down for a few days?” I’m sure there were other times when they found wonderful pasture and plentiful water only to have the pillar of cloud rise the next morning, taking them onward. They had never seen the Promised Land. They had no idea where they were headed or what it would look like when they got there. They simply had to trust God. They had to wait on God. They had to look to God.
Where is God calling you to trust Him in your life today? Is it with a professional decision? Is it with your children’s future? Your marriage? Is it with you finances? Or perhaps your aging parent’s health? Maybe it’s your college choice? Or a career decision after you graduate? What does that look like for you and how are you learning to wait on God to reveal His will?