Whether it’s a new year or any other event in our lives, we would do well to learn from the Israelites who “did not wait for His plan to unfold” (Ps. 106:13). Though God extended His kindness toward the Israelites in Egypt, they still rebelled. “Yet he saved them for his name’s sake, to make his mighty power known.” (Ps. 106:8) He rescued them from their adversary by parting the sea. “Then they believed his promises and sang his praise.” (Ps. 106:12)
You would think such a miraculous delivery would seal their trust in God’s intent to do good for them and His ability to bring it about. “But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold.” (Ps. 106:13) They repeatedly put God to the test. Read the remainder of Psalm 106 to see how that led to much needless trouble.
Why We Don’t Wait for the Lord
Who likes the wilderness experience? Who doesn’t want the good without experiencing pain or hardship? Yet, like the Israelites of old, God sometimes takes us on an indirect route to get to His place of blessing. If, like the Israelites, we focus on our circumstances rather than on our God, we too will experience needless trouble along the way.
Psalm 106:13 cues us in on why they didn’t wait on the Lord — “they soon forgot what he had done …” As a result, their impatience with the process led them to take matters into their own hands and to turn to sources other than God for help and hope.
Why We Should Wait for the Lord
The Israelites had every reason to wait for the Lord. He had already proven Himself faithful. He had already demonstrated His power. God already had shown Himself greater than their circumstances.
For us today, let’s think about what God has already done for us in sending Jesus.
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (Rom. 5:8-10)
God has already demonstrated how much He loves us. God has already proven His desire and ability to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Certainly we should believe “that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Phil. 1:6). The more we understand the character of our faithful, powerful, and loving God, the more we will realize that we have every reason to “wait for His plan to unfold” in our lives.