Waiting on God

Did God Drag His Feet?

Yes.

Remember when we talked about Joshua saying God had fulfilled His promise, even though the totality of the land was not yet in possession of Israel? It was because God did His part, but the people had to do their part. That is confirmed here in Judges where God outright says as much.

Something is only worth what it costs you. I understand that this isn’t true in every possible circumstance, but the vast majority of time it is. That’s where the phrase ‘easy come, easy go’ comes from. If the totality of the land was given to Israel in one fell swoop they would have no opportunity (or need) to continue in trust of the Lord. Instead He gives some. And He sees how we handle it.

God gives us little bits. And if we do well with the little bits, He will give us medium bits. And If we do well with the medium bits, He will give us large bits. And so on.

However, if — like Israel — we let the little bits go to our head and give us a more inflated sense of ourselves than is justified (really, any inflation is bad) then we should not be surprised that God is going to pull back on the blessings and the trust.

Zechariah 4:10 encourages us to NOT overlook the day of small things. From small things, big things one day come.

Judges 1:1-3:30 | 090/365

The Long, Long Awaited Promise

When Moses sent in his 12 spies, only two of them came back with a good report. Caleb and Joshua. Joshua took the mantle of leadership from Moses while Caleb was passed over for that role. But when the time came to send in spies again, Caleb was called on once more. And once more he believed the Lord.

40 years passed between these two incidences. 40 years.

After the first show of faith, Caleb was promised (Num 13:24) to inherit the land that his fellow spies didn’t believe God could give them, and then he had to wait. And wait. And wait.

This is how it can feel sometimes, isn’t it? we feel like God is leading us somewhere, we get a glimpse of our own “Promised Land” and then we are asked to wait. Doors close in front of us. I, myself, feel like this happened to me for about 4 years while God was preparing to bring me back into ministry. But while the wait for God’s faithfulness to come through often feels… long, He knows better than we do why the fulfilment of that promise will come when it does.

Israel had to wait through 400 years of prophetic silence for John the Baptist to show up on the scene and herald their long-awaited messiah. Abraham was shown told about the Promised Land — again — 400 years before his descendants would actually possess it WELL after his death.

What I am saying is that while the waiting is indeed the hardest part, it is worth it. When the fulfillment finally comes it is incredible to look back at the path you’ve come down and how thoroughly it has prepared you for what lies ahead.

Be blessed today, friends.

Joshua 12:7-15:12 | 085/365

What Was God Waiting For?

Exodus opens with the Israelites growing into a mighty sub-nation within Egypt. And so the Egyptians seek to subjugate them with slavery. They do so successfully. But God does nothing. Pharaoh orders all the newborn male children drown, and God does nothing.

Eventually one little boy is hidden in the reeds down the river by his mother. Her hopes and motivations are not stated in the text, but by having her daughter — Miriam — keep watch, it’s clear that she hopes someone will come rescue the child and his sister can report back what has happened.

Moses is taken in by the daughter of Pharaoh. He is raised by Egyptian royalty in the lap of luxury while his people are beaten and enslaved. One day Moses sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man and killed him. The next day Moses saw two Hebrews fighting each other and asked why they would be attacking their friend!

Shortly after this, Moses fled for his life after Pharaoh put out a decree to have him killed for the murder of the Egyptian man. While in Exile Moses got married and had a son. All the while the Israelites are still enslaved and God still hasn’t done anything. But now, now God begins to move.

What took God so long? Why didn’t he step in right away? Because He was waiting for Moses. Moses demonstrated a zealous (maybe a little OVERzealous) love for his fellow Israelites. And this was the man God wanted to task with bringing the law to His people. This man would be the one who would FIRST write down the words and instructions and history of God and His people.

We need to remember when things are going sideways that God has a plan, a purpose, and a person in mind to do address what’s happened. We have a hard time seeing beyond where we are at in any particular moment, but while we only see what’s on the road in front of us, God can see every road. And he knows when our course will change even if we can’t see it yet.

We need to trust enough to wait on God. He is coming. When the time is right.

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