Waiting in the Place of Inactivity

Waiting in the Place of Inactivity

by Becky Dietz

We’ve all been there.  We’ve needed God to move and we asked...but nothing.  So we waited and waited.  Until we just couldn’t wait any more.  

All of the Israelites had heard God’s laws, made a covenant, and promised to obey everything he said. Moses, Joshua, Aaron and his sons, and 70 other elders went to the mountain to hear God. They didn’t just hear him, they SAW HIM and ATE WITH HIM!!  (Exodus 24). What an amazing privilege.  Miraculous!!

Then God called Moses up higher.  Before Moses left, he told the people that if there were any problems to consult Aaron & Hur.  Aaron had been a leader from the beginning and both men had held up Moses’ arms during the war.  They were the dependable leaders.  And...they’d seen God!

After about 40 days of inactivity, the people decided Moses wasn’t coming back and they told Aaron they needed “gods to go before them.”   And even as God’s presence was still visibly on the mountain, Aaron created a golden calf—a graven image—to lead the people.  They’d already broken covenant with God.  Was God truly inactive with the Israelites?  No.  He was busy giving Moses the blueprints for their future. 

Before we judge Aaron and the Israelites too harshly, we need to examine our own hearts.   What have we done in the waiting place of inactivity?  It’s a hard place to be.  We can’t see what God is doing on that mountain.  We don’t know if he’s busy drawing up blueprints for our lives...or if he’s just being still and doing nothing.  Even if God is just being still, we shouldn’t make a move without him.  And what if he’s busy putting a plan in place?  What if he’s about to take us on a grand adventure?  We don’t want to miss anything!  And we certainly don’t want to be the leader who takes his people into idolatry.