When Moses went up
Mt. Sinai to the top to meet with God and receive the rest of the law, he
firmly ordered Aaron and the other older leaders to wait on the mountain for
him to return. For some reason, they
didn't; they went back to the camp to do whatever they thought was more
necessary. One has to wonder if the
entire business of the golden calf would have been avoided if Aaron had simply
stayed at his post rather than find something "better" to do down
below. There is a time to go down to the
camp but also a time to wait for the clear directive of God. Few things chaff us as severely as the wait
God institutes. We develop a fine
constellation of ideas during the wait and are hell-bent on trying them out
before the Lord has given us His "go". We constantly are confusing the going and
waiting; all the time wrecking this and that because we are not patient enough
to get to know God's voice and faithful enough to heed His call. We are like little children who must try
everything when the great Counselor is patiently waiting for us to turn into
Him for Divine Direction. Not every jar
contains arsenic but some do and our Lord is good enough to tell us in advance
how to stay away from it. Not every
opportunity is good; some will take us far from the perfect peace God has
prepared for us and those we love. You
certainly can do something but it may be the worst of your possible options and
reward you with a lifetime of regret.
Perhaps we could wait upon the Lord just this one time; take time to let
Him work Himself into us so that we can get it right when He finally gives us
something to do. Has anything been quite
so disastrous as the obeisance we give to the adage of striking while the iron
is hot? Can we not pause even for an
instant to be with God in whatever matter is before us? Do we always have to do?
He (Moses) said to the elders, "Wait here…" Exodus 24:14 NIV
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