The Exodus story is such a key biblical moment and backbone for the rest of the scriptures. Moses, the man at the centre of the story, is one of the characters that I feel the most sorry for in the Bible. He was reluctantly called to a massive task which for the most part he did well. However, he never fully experienced the promise he was called to within his lifetime. Moses knew what it was like to await breakthrough.

As I was reading today I came across a part of the story that might be helpful it we are awaiting breakthrough today.

At this stage of the story Moses has responded to the call of God, he has talked to the Israelite (Hebrew) elders and informed them of Gods rescue. He has also talked to Pharoah and requested that the people leave for 3 days to worship God.

This is where it goes a little wonky.

Pharaoh didn’t take too kindly to Moses’ request, and in turn made life harder for the Hebrews in slavery. Naturally the Hebrews aren’t too pleased with Moses with this situation which frustrates him. That leads us to the next verses

Moses returned to the LORD and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.” Exodus 5:22-23

Those of us who have read the full story know how this all ends. We know that God does indeed rescue His people but at this point Moses ‘only’ has Gods instruction and what seems like opposite circumstances. Moses comes across a little like us here. We hear God speak to us about something, we obey Him, and then straight away we expect that everything happen as God said.

However precedent would suggest that this is rarely the case. Its not that God couldn’t do it in whatever time frame He requires, and we can’t always be sure why it isn’t immediate, but lived experience tells us that time and patience is often required.

In the exodus we know that in the end they do enter the Promised Land but the generation that received the promise weren’t the generation who physically experienced it. There were years before the breakthrough came

What can we learn? The simple answer is……. patience!

If God has spoken then we can trust what He has said. Our job is to wait faithfully and not doubt His promises, but continue to seek in order to gain a fuller understanding of His will and purpose. I’m not saying that is easy, not at all, in fact its one of the hardest things to do, but do it we must.

Abraham waited, Moses waited, David waited, even Jesus had to wait for the night time. If today we are waiting then we are in good company.