The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
Lamentations 3:25
We can be so fickle and impatient, can’t we?
When we want something, we want it right now. We don’t have time to wait around.
Busy, busy, busy.
Go, go, go.
This reality is a product of our modern world and our ensuing lifestyles.
Our Impatient World
Yet, last night I was reminded how the world was a much different place. Long ago, the world ran at a much slower clip. Patience was a virtue. Patience and discipline were required in order to preserve your soul.
Our ancestors had to be disciplined enough to plant the crops. Patient enough to care for them daily, in order to bring in the harvest, many months later.
Patience and discipline were required in order to survive.
Today, we want everything right now.
Today, our world is a disaster on just about every topic you can imagine, and we want the Lord to appear right now to save us from it all.
Yet, we must be patient.
We must wait on God, and continually seek Him.
However, this does not provide us with instant gratification.
Nevertheless, if we wait on God and continually seek Him, He will be good to us. He will bless us today and in the world to come.
Ah, but that right there is a delay…
“The world to come” is far away.
As Christians, we all yearn for God’s Kingdom. We seek it, but we are so very impatient for it.
The Impatient Israelites
Yet, last night I was reminded how it was the same story for the ancient Israelites.
After roughly 400 years of wandering in the land. After hard bondage in Egypt. From Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to the 12 Tribes of Israel. After much waiting, God provided wonders in Egypt which led to the Israelites becoming a free people, who God brought to the Promised Land.
The land God promised Abraham and his children long before, (Genesis 15:18).
Yet, there were many generations in between who waited patiently for this promise, never to see it come to fruition. They must have thought, this promise would come on their watch, but it never did. So their job during that time was to simply keep God’s Word alive, so the next generation could carry it forward.
Tough to swallow.
Tough to endure.
Now think about yourself as a Christian today…
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Last night, I was reminded that after all of this, the newest generation, those who God led out of Egypt would turn their back on Him. Yes, after God’s wonders in Egypt, those Ten Plagues, the Israelites quickly forgot how He always protected them.
You see, only the Egyptians were harmed by the Ten Plagues of Egypt.
Parting The Red Sea
So God hardened Pharoah’s heart one more time. Pharaoh and the Egyptians would chase after the Israelites in the wilderness. At the very first sign of the Egyptians, the Israelites cried out to Moses and God, and began to murmur against them, (Exodus 14:10-12).
The characteristics from the generations of the past, those who were so patient, were not evident in this newer generation.
Yet, God provided a way out, and He protected His people. You know the story, Moses raised his staff and God parted the Red Sea, (Exodus 14:27). The Israelites went through on dry ground, and the Egyptians were destroyed when God collapsed the wall of water upon them.
A faith building miracle for the Israelites.
Bitter Water Of Marah
As the Israelites continued in the wilderness, God wanted to prove them, (Exodus 15:25). God wanted to see if the people would endure for Him, or if they would complain and wallow away.
As the Israelites became thirsty, they began to murmur against God and Moses once again, (Exodus 15:24). They knew they were being led and protected by God. They knew they were obtaining the promise from long ago, but they were not patient enough to wait for it.
So God gave them water, and asked them to follow His Law, (Exodus 15:26).
Manna And Quail
Later, God wanted to prove them again, (Exodus 16:4). When the food failed in the land, the people murmured at God and Moses once again. The Israelites explained, they would rather have died in Egypt in bondage with a full belly, than to die hungry as free men, (Exodus 16:2-3).
Shameful.
So God provided them with manna in the morning, and quail in the evening with simple instructions, (Exodus 16:19-20).
Instructions they could not even adhere to, (Exodus 16:26-28).
It would seem, the patience and discipline of the former generations had not been passed on to this generation. Despite miracle after miracle, the Israelites continually turned their back on God.
For that, God ensured that generation of people perished before He allowed the Israelites into the Promised Land, (Numbers 14:33).
Learn From The Past
There is much to learn from these lessons and the history that God has given us. History always repeats itself, that is why these examples were passed down to us, (1 Corinthians 10:11).
Today, we eagerly await for the Return of Jesus Christ, but perhaps, it will not occur on our watch as we hope. Just like the Israelites who did not obtain the promise.
If this becomes our reality, what traits will we have left for the succeeding generations?
You see, we are like those Israelites wandering in the wilderness.
Each and every day is our opportunity to prove ourselves to God. It’s our opportunity to remember the promise, claim the promise, and abide by God’s Law in order to obtain it, (John 3:16).
It takes much patience.
It takes much endurance.
Yet, “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved,” (Matthew 24:13).