While the wilderness experience was a long haul for the Israelites, the Lord still expected them to be patient and not behave aggressively towards others.
Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, as the Lord spoke to me, and we skirted Mount Seir for many days.
“And the Lord spoke to me, saying: ‘You have skirted this mountain long enough; turn northward. And command the people, saying, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully. 5 Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.
“For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.” Deuteronomy 2:2-7
The Lord knew the wandering Israelites would be faced with temptations as they passed through various territories, so He warned them that none of the territories of Esau’s descendants belonged to them. He had already chosen who should have ownership of those areas.
The Lord also didn’t want the Israelites to expect these tribes to treat them with special care or give them something for free. This is the same temptation that we can face in a desert season. If we look at others who are settled in, we are tempted to want what they have. We may also expect them to help us get what we want or to give us something for free.
The Lord told the Israelites that the people in those territories would be afraid of them and that they need to buy their food and water from them. Basically, he was training them to handle their strength with gentleness and humility and not to take advantage of others presuming the Lord was with them.
Just because God’s people are special to Him, it doesn’t mean that He blesses whatever they decide to do. Sometimes, Christians can get presumptuous and assume that God is with them regardless of their attitude or what they do. The Lord has an assignment and if we decide to do our own thing and not respect the boundaries God has given us, we can’t assume that the Lord will bless it.
The Israelites had to continue to be patient. Patience is hard in the wilderness because you can’t keep yourself busy by just doing things to pass the time. You begin to feel the length of time more than ever.
Patience does not have an objective timeline, but it is subjective upon God’s will. Abraham and Sara experienced this. It wasn’t as if Abraham and Sara hadn’t waited a long time, but they didn’t wait long enough! As a result, they were tempted and moved into action in the flesh thinking that they had to do something. .
The root of impatience is unbelief. If we move in haste, it can postpone God’s process. We can also bring things into our lives that the Lord did not intend. Abraham’s choice of Ishmael is a good example of impatience and unbelief that its consequences continue to go on.
How are you doing with being patient with God’s process? Do you feel like you have no control over the sitaution?
Let’s ask the Lord to give us the grace we need to be patient with His process and not move ahead of Him or try to control things that are not meant to be in our control!