Streams In The Desert Reading PlanPrøve

DAY 2

The Bible has a great deal to say about waiting for God, and the teaching cannot be too strongly emphasized. We so easily become impatient with God’s delays. Yet much of our trouble in life is the result of our restless, and sometimes reckless, haste. We cannot wait for the fruit to ripen, but insist on picking it while it is still green. We cannot wait for the answers to our prayers, although it may take many years for the things we pray for to be prepared for us. We are encouraged to walk with God, but often God walks very slowly. Yet there is also another side to this teaching: God often waits for us.

Quite often we fail to receive the blessing he has ready for us because we are not moving forward with him. While it is true we miss many blessings by not waiting for God, we also lose numerous blessings by overwaiting. There are times when it takes strength simply to sit still, but there are also times when we are to move forward with a confident step.

Many of God’s promises are conditional, requiring some initial action on our part. Once we begin to obey, he will begin to bless us. Great things were promised to Abraham, but not one of them could have been obtained had he waited in Ur of the Chaldeans. The ten lepers Jesus healed were told to show themselves to the priest, and “as they went, they were cleansed” (Luke 17:14 [emphasis added]). God was waiting to heal them, and the moment their faith began to work, the blessing came.

When the Israelites were trapped by Pharaoh’s pursuing army at the Red Sea, they were commanded to “move on” (Exodus 14:15). No longer was it their duty to wait, but to rise up from bended knees and “move on” with heroic faith.

J. R. Miller