It's about time

What are you waiting for from God? Is there a promise in the Bible you're waiting to be fulfilled in your life or the life of a loved one? Do you feel like he invited you to step out in faith for something, and now you're waiting for his provision of finances or confidence? Or perhaps you're simply waiting for a struggle to end?

I am currently reading through the Pentateuch (a fancy name for the first five books of the Bible). I've read it many times before, and it's always the same: Genesis and the first half of Exodus are incredibly interesting and readable, but then comes the minutiae of the Tabernacle building plans, followed by the minutiae of the Law, and, well, it gets super boring.

Yet I plod on, reading it all.

However, today I was rewarded with an interesting detail I've never noticed before. In Exodus 23, God once again reiterates his promise to bring Israel into the Promised Land. He promises his presence with them, that he will send his angel before them, and that he will fight on their behalf against all the corrupt nations currently holding the land.

"I will cause the people ahead of you to feel terror and will throw into confusion all the nations you come to. I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you in retreat. I will send hornets in front of you, and they will drive the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hethites away from you."

~ Exodus 23:27-28 

But then (and this is the detail I never noticed before) he says it won't happen all at once. Rather, it will take some time, and for good reason:

"I will not drive them out ahead of you in a single year; otherwise, the land would become desolate, and wild animals would multiply against you. I will drive them out little by little ahead of you until you have become numerous and take possession of the land."

~ Exodus 23:29-30 

I had always assumed Israel was meant to take possession of the Promised Land all at once, and when that didn't happen, it was because Israel had somehow messed up.

Yet that was never the plan. They were to take possession of the Promised Land little by little, as they grew little by little and literally grew into a nation capable of inheriting the entire land. It must have been frustrating at times as they struggled against opposing forces and waited for God to fulfill his promise.

The somewhat cliché metaphor of a butterfly comes to mind:

When a butterfly emerges from its chrysalis, the process is intentionally slow and difficult, and the struggle of eclosion (emerging from its cocoon) is integral to the development of its wings (it pushes moisture from the body into the wings, helping them expand). If a helpful passerby saw the struggling butterfly and decided to rip open the chrysalis for it, the butterfly would never be able to fly.

The common thread between the butterfly and Israel inheriting the land is that time and struggle are part of the plan. In fact, they are how God fulfills his purpose for them both.

PAUSE and REFLECT: Often we don't want God to just fulfill his promise, we want him to fulfill his promise now. Yet in the case of the butterfly and Israel, if he were to immediately fulfill his "promise" to fly or his promise to inherit the land, it would be a disaster and accomplish the opposite of what was intended.

So again, what are you waiting for? Where are you waiting for God to act? Could it be that the waiting is actually God acting on your behalf?

No one likes struggle, especially an extended one, but in the same way the struggle of lifting weights slowly builds a stronger body, or the struggle of silence and meditating on the Word slowly builds a calmer mind, so too the struggle of persistent prayer or the struggle of following God out onto the water can build a more powerful faith.

If you're waiting for something today, consider the possibility that God has not forgotten you or your need, but is actually in the act of fulfilling it right now, with you. 

"Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Wait for the Lord."
~ Psalm 27:14

"No one who waits for you will be disgraced."
~ Psalm 25:3

"All of them wait for you to give them their food at the right time."
~ Psalm 104:27

"Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for him; do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way, by the person who carries out evil plans."
~ Psalm 37:7