When we are impatient with God, we tend to try things on our own. When we try things on our own, they tend to go horribly wrong. Take the Israelites for example. Once they left Egypt, they were super impatient with God and His timing. When Moses went up the mountain to talk to God, the Israelites grew impatient very quickly. They didn’t wait very long before they started gathering all the gold they could to build a new calf to worship. When Moses came back down from the mountain, the Israelites said they were worshipping a golden calf because they didn’t know what happened to Moses (Exodus 32). That’s like us saying, “Jamie, make us a god who will go before us because we don’t know where Paulie went.” Now you may say that sounds ridiculous, but the Israelites have always been the perpetual prodigal children.
When we don’t wait on God’s timing, we are saying that we don’t trust Him to get us through situations. Let’s talk about the Israelites choosing Saul. In 1 Samuel 8:9-18, Samuel tells the people exactly what God said would happen once they got a king. But the Israelites, being who they are, didn’t listen. They didn’t trust that God was doing what was best for them. They wanted to be like everyone else, became impatient with God’s plan, and took things into their own hands. If that wasn’t enough, they basically threw a hissy fit until they got a king. They picked Saul, and we all know how that ended up. If you read the book of Kings you’ll see how often the Israelites strayed from God. They had a couple of bad kings who did wrong in the eyes of the Lord, but then they would have a good King who tore down the idols and did good in the eyes of the Lord. This was a perpetual cycle that went on for quite some time. The Israelites could have saved themselves a lot of pain and suffering if they had simply waited on the Lord. God had proven to them over and over again that if they trusted in Him, He would do all he promised.
When we don’t wait on God’s timing, we are saying that we don’t trust Him to get us through situations.
Patience is a spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22), and scripture makes it clear that God is pleased with us when we display this virtue: “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him” (Psalms 37:7), “for God is good to those who wait for Him” (Lamentations 3:25). Our patience often reveals the degree of trust we have in God’s timing. We must remember that God operates according to His perfect eternal schedule, not ours. We should take great comfort in knowing that, when we wait on the LORD, we receive divine energy and strength.
Love and Nuggs,
Amanda
