Wait

20:21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

32:1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." (Exodus 20:21; 32:1)

Moses ascended Mt. Sinai after the people of Israel appointed him to speak to and hear from God on their behalf because they were too afraid to hear God speak directly to them. Moses was gone for 40 days and nights before the people, restless and afraid, gave up on his return and asked (or threatened) Aaron to make them a god they could see and touch. Although they had been led by God's presence as a cloud and a pillar of fire, now they only had the memory of God's thunderous voice and the sight of terrifying darkness as they looked up the mountain to where Moses had gone.

It's easy to wonder how the Israelites could forget everything God had brought them through, but our patience is not much better. When the outcome we're waiting, hoping, and praying for doesn't come in the time we deem necessary (or, perhaps, at all), we too tend to attempt to create the result we desire to see and touch. We struggle to be still in the uncertainty, to wait for God to change our circumstances and/or to change us. But, if God has fought for us, fed us, listened to our cries, and kept us, then surely we can wait to see what God is working out and working on for our good and God's glory.

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff-- they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long. (Psalm 23)