Impatience

We are continuing our series this morning Titled Waiting on God - Patience while waiting for the promise.

Waiting on God to act or trusting His promises can be challenging. Sometimes we feel the need to take matters into our own hands, but the Bible shows us this doesn’t work out well. During this series we will be looking at four times when people took matters into their own hands rather than waiting on God—and the fallout from those decisions.

Last we look at Abraham and Sarah. We saw that God promised them a child but they wait so long that they took matters into their own hands. Sarah came up with a plan to allow her servant to become a wife of Abraham so maybe through her they might have a child. This was not part of the promise that God had told them. They took matter into their own hand to make this work instead of waiting on God. This is when it started to fall about. Sarah became jealous of Hagar and felt that she was trying to take Her place in the family. Sarah starte to regret what she had done. It end with Hager be forest to run away because of the abuse she was dealing with. Unlike Sarah and Abraham we must not take matter into our own hand or thing could fall apart. Instead you must have patience. While waiting on God.

This week we good to be look at other story that happened in the Old Testement. If you have your bible go head and turn to Exodus 32:1-35. if you do not have your bible you can follow along on the screen in a few minutes.

What are you most impatient with?

Impatience is something we all deal with. Wheather it be waiting to long in traffic, you food taking to long to come out. This happened to us last night. Nikki and I went out to dinner after I got off work. We sat there for 25 min waiting on the waiters to come back around to get our drink order. We finally got that the ordered food and had to wait another 45 min before it came out to us. I started growing a little impatient with the wait. The place we were at was very busy at the time.

Impatience can come at anytime. We can also become impatient with God. God make a promise or tell us something when it doesn’t happen in our time we get tried of waiting and say I can do this. Which ends badly.

When we grow impatient with God, we are like someone who goes to a Thanksgiving feast and grows impatient waiting for the turkey to be served, so they start eating candy. Then when the feast is finally served, they are full but not satisfied.

Today we will be looking at a time when the Israelites grow impatient with God.

The book of Exodus starts out by Israel receiving freedom from slavery and then their journey (or wandering) through the desert to the land God promised to give them.

This journey takes a lot longer than the Israelites had anticipated. During one delay, Moses is on a mountain meeting with God, and the people are waiting down below in their camp for Moses to return. The people became impatient while waiting.

Exodus 32:1–6 CSB

1 When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Come, make gods for us who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!” 2 Aaron replied to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the gold rings that were on their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the gold from them, fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into an image of a calf. Then they said, “Israel, these are your gods, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it and made an announcement: “There will be a festival to the Lord tomorrow.” 6 Early the next morning they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented fellowship offerings. The people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to party.

Impatience leads to Idolatry

This story to a big turn very fast. The Israelites quickly forgot what God had done for them. They ask Aaron for help and he did. He made them a golden calf to worship.

The Israelites thought that Moses was gone

They thought that Moses had disapeared or something. He was up there for 40 day and night. Thats a long time to wait for someone to come back. After 40 days i would start to think that this person was not coming back. You see our experience of time is not equal to that of Gods.

While we wait on the Lord, it’s important to remember that our perspective is partial, but God’s perspective on time is eternal.

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Exodus 32:9–10 CSB

9 The Lord also said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and they are indeed a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone, so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

Moses seeks favor with God

4. In response to the Israelites quickly abandoning God, God wants to send Moses there so that God’s “wrath may burn hot against them” and he “may consume them” (v. 10). Moses, however, stands in the gap for Israel and pleads on their behalf before God (vv. 11–13). The Lord relents from his intention to consume Israel. It may seem that, in this instance, taking matters into their own hands worked out for the best. God’s mercy shows up (v. 14)!

The consequence of the people sin

When Moses finally did return to the camp. He heard this load party and saw the golden calf. He realizes just how terrible this sin is, and he too is angry—so much so that he throws the Law down and breaks the tablets which God had written (vv. 16–19).

Moses then calls out for those that are still loyal to the Lord. The only ones that come forward are the sons of Levi. This group then goes thought the came attacking the everyone. The result of Israel taking matters into their own hands was a civil war which killed three thousand, followed by a plague from God (vv. 28, 35).

Impatience with God can lead to idolatry

When you grow frustrated with God’s timing, do you worship him more or turn to an idol?