But you have followed what I teach, the way I live, my goal, faith, patience, and love. You know I never give up. [2 Timothy 3:10 (NCV)]
After Israel accepted the Lord’s Covenant, Moses returned to the base of Mt. Sinai with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders. It was then that every one of those men gazed upon the God of Israel from afar and ate a covenant meal in His presence. Before Moses departed to climb up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, he entrusted the Israelites to Aaron and the elders who then went back to their camp. Moses, accompanied by his servant/apprentice Joshua, climbed a short way up the mountain and a cloud covered it. The two men made camp and stayed there for the next six days. On the seventh day, God called to Moses from within the cloud and the Israelites’ leader disappeared into the mist.
By this time, Israel had seen the waters of the Red Sea part and Pharaoh’s army drown, watched as bitter water turned sweet, received manna from heaven and water from a rock, and experienced victory over the Amalekites. Israel saw the glory of the Lord like a consuming fire on Mt. Sinai’s summit and, during the Covenant ceremony, they all promised, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.” Seventy-three of the elders saw the God of Israel and ate a meal with Him! Yet, despite the miracles they’d experienced, Israel lost faith and grew impatient during their leader’s forty-day absence. Fearful that Moses was lost and wanting to set their own time line for getting to the Promised Land, they decided to fashion another god to lead them. After doing so, they celebrated with a pagan feast. When God saw their disobedience and corruption, he sent Moses back down the mountain.
While we know that Moses was on top of Mt. Sinai communing with God, there is no mention of Joshua’s whereabouts or activities during those next thirty-three days. We can only assume that, after watching Moses disappear in the mist, Joshua patiently remained there until Moses’ return. If I’d seen someone vanish into the fog, I’m not sure I would have lasted four days alone in the cloud-covered wilderness but Joshua lasted more than four weeks! As the days wore on, did he worry that Moses may have been eaten by lions or consumed by what appeared to be fire? Did he wonder how long he should wait before giving up? Waiting alone in the wilderness, did he fear for his own safety? Think of the patience and faith it took for the young man to remain there day after day waiting for Moses’ return.
We think of Joshua as a scout, military strategist, and leader but do we ever think of him as a man of patience and faith? Yet, the same man who waited day after day alone in the wilderness had to wait an extra thirty-eight years before setting foot in Canaan! His faith and patience, however, were rewarded when he arrived in the Promised Land.
Faith and patience go hand in hand. If we have patience, we won’t lose faith in God’s plan and timing as did the Israelites. And, if we have faith, we can be patient, even when things take longer than expected, as they did for Joshua.
The principle part of faith is patience. [George Macdonald]
Built by her husband’s grandfather in the 1920s, my friend’s house was filled with much of the original furniture. Many pieces (like the restored grand piano) were valuable antiques but decades of use had taken their toll on others. Although the beautiful little mahogany side chair looked solid, a note saying “Broken—do not use” rested on it. Pretty as it was, the chair was useless and an invitation to disaster. Should the warning go unnoticed, some unknowing person could end up sprawled on the floor surrounded by splintered wood.
Jeremiah 29 consists of two letters written by the prophet to the exiles in Babylon. The first (29:1-28) was sent to the recently deported elders, priests, and prophets as well as to King Jehoiachin, his mother, and the officials, craftsmen, and artisans who’d been taken as Nebuchadnezzar’s captives several years earlier. Countering the message of the false prophets promising a quick return to Jerusalem from Babylon, Jeremiah bluntly told the exiles that Israel’s captivity would last seventy years. This was unwelcome news and, preferring to believe comforting lies rather than the painful truth, people accused Jeremiah of being crazy and a false prophet. The second letter in this chapter addresses one of his accusers.
After feeding a multitude with little more than a handful of food, Jesus sent the disciples across the Sea of Galilee to Bethsaida. He stayed behind to send the people home and then, exhausted, went into the mountains to pray. During the fourth watch (somewhere between 3:00 and 6:00 AM), Jesus looked out at the water and saw that the disciples were struggling against the wind and waves to keep the boat on course. Seeing their distress, he walked on the water toward them. Seeing Him walking on water, they thought Him a ghost and cried out in terror. Phantoms of the night were said to bring disaster and it was thought that the last thing a boatman saw before drowning in Galilee was a ghost on the water! It’s no wonder they were frightened at first.
When I first started reading the psalms, I suspected David might have been bi-polar—his highs seemed so high and his lows so very low; now I understand that he was just being truthful. In his psalms, David unabashedly expressed his deepest feelings to God. Pouring out his soul, he openly shared his emotions—whether anger, disappointment, sorrow, regret, shame, joy, love, fear, doubt, or even his desire for vengeance upon his enemies. No matter how troubled he was, David never was afraid to speak from his heart. I’m not sure we are willing to be as vulnerable and straightforward in our prayers as was David.
In Psalm 23, the King James version translates the original Hebrew “gay tsalmaveth” as “valley of the shadow of death.” A more accurate translation, however, would be a dark valley or a valley of death-like darkness. While people often associate this psalm with death, it uses the metaphor of sheep and their shepherd and sheep have no concept of death. But, because of their near-sightedness and poor depth perception, they are reluctant to move into dark places. Nevertheless, whether referring to the unknown, danger, or even death, David’s words are ones of comfort and hope to all who read them—we are not alone as we travel through the dark valleys of life.
Devotions of the Heart 