Wait of Faith

"Good things come to those who wait" is a phrase we all have heard, and I believe to be true. Waiting though can be very hard and tiring for most of us. We like things quick, easy, and immediate and to wait seems impossible for us. Waiting will always test us, but we will always come out ahead by waiting- waiting on God.

Joshua who was Moses' right-hand man knew a lot about waiting. In Exodus, the Lord said to Moses "Come up to Me on the mountain and stay there, and I will give you the tablets of stone, with the law, and commandments I have written for their instruction.” The Bible then goes on to say that Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua, and Moses went up into the mount of God. He said unto the elders “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone involved in a dispute can go to them.” Moses and Joshua then headed up Mt. Sinai. Joshua only went part of the way with Moses and there he waited. Moses continued up to the mount and ended up being there for forty days and forty nights listening as the Lord spoke to him. After the forty days and forty nights were ended Moses was told by God to come down from the mountain because the people had corrupted themselves by worshipping a golden calf they had made. As Moses made his way down, he was greeted by Joshua and they made the rest of the way together. 

Try to imagine being Joshua for a moment. Here he was with Moses, and God tells him to go up to the mountain and Moses includes Joshua by taking him. As they headed out together do you think they were talking about how long they thought Moses would be up there? Maybe Joshua was even questioning why he had to go. Picture them reaching the spot where Moses says to Joshua “Wait here till I get back” and then he goes on up the rest of the way. Neither one of them knew it would be forty days and forty nights- what a wait Joshua had. Moses was with God listening to His every word- he was busy. Joshua though had no one to talk to- what was he even doing all that time? My guess is he was praying to God continually. He was also being faithful to God by being faithful to Moses. He could have left and gone with the others. He could have become concerned as to why it was taking Moses so long to come down and give up on him- but he didn't. He remained faithful and diligent to what Moses had asked and required of him. Imagine waiting for forty days and forty nights- alone. The Bible does not say why Joshua was meant to go other than because he was Moses' aid, but what if it was meant to test Joshua? Joshua proved to be a man of faithfulness, a man who was a servant, a man of courage, a man of strength, and a man of faith by waiting. Those qualities were later needed when Moses appointed Joshua his successor in leading the Israelites when he died. God needed a man to take over at Moses' death and he needed a man who was faithful even when the waiting seemed long and unending.

Many times, God calls us to go, and then He says "Ok, now wait on Me. I'm going up ahead of you to finish some things that need to be done for you, but I'll be back- have faith and don't move- wait for Me." The question is do we have enough faith to wait when God says wait- do we have the faith that it's for a good reason were waiting?

Just like when Moses came down from being with God, who did he see waiting for him? He saw his faithful servant Joshua waiting and they walked the rest of the way together. Joshua had no idea what his future held but he proved that day he had the faith to wait- he proved that he was faithful.

What about you- do you have the faith to wait on God for as long as it takes?

From Gardens of Splendor by Gina Burns