When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us.” (Exodus 32:1a NIV).
God has His own reasons to allow delays in our lives. These delays are sometimes not easy to accept. Because we are generally impatient we need to be assured of every reason why something is being delayed.
Usually God doesn’t assign reasons for His delays. But there are purposes which He has in mind in allowing delays in our lives.
Blessed is the man who can accept delays as coming from God’s hand. Such a person has truly learned to trust God in delays.
Yet with many of us delays cause great problems. We get frustrated easily. Our faith begins to waver. We lose our strength to keep on praying. Yet the danger is yet to come. Like the Israelites we too will start to say, “Come, make us gods who will go before us.”
They said this only because “Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain.” Moses had gone to represent them before God. Likewise our prayers have gone up to God’s presence to represent our needs to Him.
We expect them to come down from God’s presence with answers. And when they are delayed, do we think of making other gods to lead us? Think of this.
We may not make golden calves. Yet every word of discouraging talk that comes out of our mouth is an idol that we create. Haven’t you felt your behavior itself change as you talk negatively when you get frustrated because of delays? Then you talk and act like idol worshippers.
And acting on your own without God’s approval easily becomes sin. But remember that even then your prayers are in His presence. The delay is God’s own choosing. Therefore never commit the sin of making other gods when God delays. The delays will end if you will only wait.
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