The Pitfalls of Waiting - Isaiah 30:18 Part II

The Pitfalls of Waiting – Isaiah 30:18 – Part II

For those persons who triumph over fretting, resorting to idolatry may be the temptation that ensnares them.  You will recall the “Golden Calf” incident during the wilderness period the Israelites.  Moses and Joshua went to Mt. Sinai to commune with the Lord.  They were gone for forty days and forty nights, in the Hebrew, a long period of time.  In the interim, the people confront Aaron about Moses’ extensive and lingering absence.  They want a leader and a god that they can see.  Aaron’s spiritual, personal and existential shortcomings in character cause his acquiescence to the people’s wishes.  Upon Moses’ return with the Law of Almighty God, he finds the people having a rather risque party and serving a golden calf, an idol. 

In times of impatience, we tend to resort to alternative plans.  Also, because our dreadful circumstances appear to eclipse Almighty God, we reach for supplements to the Bible.  We dabble in alternative spiritualities and philosophies which might contain some truth that the scriptures do not.  Practically speaking, we may rely upon our business and social contacts more than we depend on the faithfulness of our Heavenly Father.  We fall prey to the temptation that such significant contacts with their political, social, economic and religious “power” may be able to resolve our dilemmas given God’s longstanding absence.  In addition to ideologies and relationships, we resort to creature comforts to fill the vacuum of God’s absence.  If we are to be depressed and even oppressed, we may as well be as physically comfortable as possible.  In sum, idolatry in all its various forms is the second great pitfall of waiting for the emergence of God’s will in our lives.

Should we be able to escape the entrapment of fretting and idolatry, willfulness lurks right around the corner.  God’s silence and Moses’ absence made the children of Israel think that they had to take matters into their own hands.  Impatience assuredly fuels the prideful thoughts and feelings synonymous with personal willfulness.  Because God delays, we dismiss Him and His word.  We become self-reliant.  Really, we elevate our minds and thoughts to that of God’s level.  We fall prey to the fallacy that we can resolve our situation as well as God could, if He were to intervene favorably.  An old adage says, “Any person who defends himself in a court of law has a fool for a lawyer.”  Likewise, when we take our lives into our own hands, we make foolish choices.  Our human perspective remains limited by the time and context in which we live.  When we disregard God’s word, we will undoubtedly make rash judgments due to an incomplete outlook on our situation.  The Bible teaches that God’s will for us is simply the very best thing for us!  In fact, He always wants something for us that is far greater than anything we think or imagine, according to Ephesians 3:20.  As a consequence, our personal willfulness ironically results in the loss of many blessings that God would freely give if we simply unconditionally trust Him.

That old reliable personal demon, fear, is the fourth pitfall that awaits us when we refuse to wait on God.  It is said that “fear is the chief activator of our character defects.”  Giving in to fear during times of restlessness will lead to moral compromise and indifference.  As we wait for God, we may develop a nonchalant attitude toward life.  We may fall for the fallacy of indulging our self-centered physical and emotional instincts.  We do believing that we deserve some fun and happiness considering what we are experiencing.  For example, as a person waits for a spouse of God’s choosing, he or she may act out sexually.  Obviously, such behavior can lead immediately to another set of health, self-esteem, reputation and spiritual problems.  Nevertheless, the fear that we may lose something we greatly value or fail to acquire something of equal worth can propel us to hasty and unfortunate mistakes.  Moreover, fear creates emotions of desperation and powerlessness.  Those volcanic feelings manipulate us in immediate actions with disastrous results.  As a consequence, the psalmist encourages his soul to wait and hope in Almighty God knowing that in the fullness of time he will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13-14).