In the Meantime

For the last week, we've been discussing God blessing you in the presence of your enemies. That's not just something people, it is scripture. However, the scripture never says a time frame. It never says God will bless you in a certain amount of days. It's never stated that way. So what do we do in the meantime? While we wait on God, we have to keep the faith and be obedient to him. 

For this particular topic I will be referencing the story of the Israelites in the wilderness in Numbers 14. 

Numbers 14:1-4 New King James Version (NKJV)

Israel Refuses to Enter Canaan

14 So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why has the Lord brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let us select a leader and return to Egypt.”

Now by the time this portion of the story came, the Israelites had been wandering for quite some time, and they were over it (Y'all know how I talk 😂😂). They felt like they were better off in Egypt. They've been waiting for God to come through, and He hadn't done it yet.  That's just like people, ain't it? We ask for something and then when it doesn't come the way we want it to or in the time we want it, we give up. Regardless of what God has already done, we're still dissatisfied because this thing we want right now has not come to pass. 

I know personally, I have been waiting and waiting for God to give me another job. I've been with my company for a year and a half now, and I've been ready to leave since I interviewed for the position. I tried to make the best of it, and then something happens that reminds me why I never wanted to be there in the first place. My attitude about it has not been that great, and I should be ashamed of myself for how I have been addressing the situation. 

Anyway, God started to deal with Moses about the Israelites. He told Moses He was going to kill them because of their distrust. 

Numbers 14:20-25 New King James Version (NKJV)

20 Then the Lord said: “I have pardoned, according to your word; 21 but truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord— 22 because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, 23 they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. 24 But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it. 25 Now the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley; tomorrow turn and move out into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.”

God said it very simply. The Israelites should have heeded to His voice. Honestly, this is one of the few times that I can remember God being genuinely upset with people. He literally said "I've shown you my goodness over and over, and yet you still don't trust me. So now I have to kill you." 

God has promised us so much, and we as people get impatient, but scripture says 

Isaiah 40:31 King James Version (KJV)

31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

While we wait, we cannot get weary. It is a must that we wait on God. If we don't wait on Him, it's pretty much a slap in the face to Him. God is a an of his word. When He speaks, His word shall not return unto Him void. He told prophet Jeremiah

Jeremiah 29:11-13 King James Version (KJV)

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

So what does this mean for us? While we wait on the Lord, trust Him and seek His face. He already has a plan for us, but we have to trust and believe that God is not a man that he should lie. 

KiKi Sheard calls it the waiting room. When people are in the waiting room when something has happened, they are often times praying the hardest they ever have in their lives. They seek God more than ever before. We should be the same way in the meantime. 

Praise Him in the midst
Of my trials
He'll be a present help in trouble
In the rain, don't bend
Just fight until the end
--Byron Cage