Waiting is not in our blood. Especially when everything happens so quickly at our fingertips. And often we would like to have this kind of speed-thriller experience with God too. We wish to have instant connect with God to get things done.
“Come up to me on the mountain and stay here” was God’s command to Moses (Exodus 24:12). Yet for six days even as the glory of the LORD settled on Mount Sinai Moses was kept waiting (24:15, 16). It was only on the seventh day he was called to enter the fiery cloud of God’s presence.
First of all, this incident should challenge our practices of the quick reading of the same Psalm every day and a 1 minute prayer. Not that it is bad. But if you really wish to hear God speaking to you, you need to wait in his presence by spending long hours in reading the Bible and prayer.
Secondly, God cannot and will not speak to you intimately unless you come away from the crowd. The mountains always help us to think of God who is high above us. You should leave behind the day to day concerns with someone capable (24:14) and free yourself to have quality time with God.
Thirdly, this period of waiting in expectation that God will speak is a time of preparing oneself to meet with God. In other words, we live in a time when God is presented as a familiar face; the friendly neighbor next door, ever-ready to meet our needs. This is misleading. Our God is an awesome God and it is appropriate to quieten our hearts in his presence and approach him with awe.
Finally, those who are prepared to wait are often given a greater revelation of God. If Moses had grown impatient during the six day wait, how would he have endured the forty days and forty nights with God? So do not look down on your waiting periods when you do not hear from God. They are the runways which help you take off into soaring heights with God.
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Insight
Would you wish your newborn grow in a day? No. We enjoy seeing him or her growing through the ages. We enjoy the journey. Don’t we? In God’s perspective, we are the child and he is the parent in each prayer. He waits.