Day thirteen: Our impatience and fear leads to shortcuts that actually delay our trip.

The Israelites waited forty days for Moses to come down from the mountain, the same mountain that trembled when God spoke. What if Moses had died up there and they were waiting in vain for him? They needed to move on without Moses… and yet they still needed a god to go with them. 

But they rejected the God of Moses, who shook the mountains when He spoke and took them by a route they didn’t know. So, they reshaped the Lord of their deliverance into a more palatable god, one they could control. What did this God look like? It was a golden calf, made in the image of the gods of Egypt with the gold that they had taken when they fled. It was a man-made god, inspired by the icons of their slavery. 

As a smug teenager, I scoffed at their foolishness, believing we would never make a golden calf today!

But don’t we? 

When we avoid the difficult act of waiting on God, opting to forge ahead in our own wisdom and abilities? We often seek control, avoiding the vulnerability of waiting and the uncertainty it brings.

And let’s face it, the God of the Bible can appear intimidating and beyond comprehension from a distance. So we need to get closer like Moses did. Ah yes, back to Moses! While the Israelites waited in the valley, Moses was having a true mountain top experience with God, receiving the ten commandments and the blueprint for the tabernacle – a place where God would meet with them. 

The Israelites had the opportunity to meet with God directly and hear from Him firsthand. However, their fear kept them from a closer relationship, leading them to delegate the responsibility to Moses. Yet, it was cultivating a more intimate connection that could have dispelled their fear, as they would come to know God and understand the depth of His love for them.
Trusting God enough to surrender control and wait on Him requires an intimate relationship. We must allow Him to speak to us, even if it shakes the ground beneath our feet, confident that He will keep us firmly grounded.


Scripture Reference: Exodus 32:1 

- When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”

 Scripture Reference: Hebrews 10:35-36 
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- So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! 36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Prayer Prompt: Ask God to speak to you directly and guide you into a deeper relationship that unveils His love and dispels any fear within you.