Learn to Wait!!

Exodus 33:3

3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”

Having everything right now is not always the best for us. Moses had already brought the Israelites out of Egypt per God's command. They were at Mount Horeb and were crumbling because they wanted to enter their promise "right now". God spoke to them telling them that he would give them what he promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He said he would even remove their enemies but he would not go with them. The reason for the journey through the desert in the first place was because God needed time to prepare the promised land for them to enter and also he needed them to shed their old way of thinking. There was a two-fold process that needed to take place. You can't enter the new without shedding the old. Unfortunately, the Israelites didn't see it that way and all they wanted was their blessings right now. So God said he would give it to them but he wouldn't be with them after he gave them what they wanted.

Can you imagine God giving you what you asked for but then not being with you afterward? What would you do with a blessing that you've never had before, that you're not ready for and really isn't ready for you? One word, CRASH! We'd all mess up anything we're not ready for especially if God isn't with us to see us through it. And that's the point he was making with the Israelites. He told them they were so stiff-necked. Stiff-necked means stubborn and hard-headed. But you know the saying, "a hard head makes for a soft behind." And God knew that they would mess up what he wanted to give them. So how do we combat this mindset? Learn to WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is always a reason for God doing what he does. It's not always for us to understand but it is for us to trust him. But trust is difficult when you want to be in control. Control can get you to some place but not get you through it. Learning to wait on God is a continuous process but it was one that took the Israelites forty years. It didn't have to take them that long but because they refused to let go of the old mindset and heart, he could not bring them into where he wanted.

Can you imagine God wanting to give you something and waiting on you to let go of the old so he can give you the new? We've all been there and some of us still are there. He may hand you over to what you desire because you don't want to change but God knows you're not ready for it.