waiting with

The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there…”

Exodus 24:12a

As God prepared to give to Israel the laws that would be His revealed will for the newly delivered nation, He offered an invitation to Moses. It is an invitation to come into God’s presence. It is an invitation to wait.

God chose to visibly make His power known to His people at this season. He descended upon Sinai. The mountain was shrouded in thick smoke, fire, and lightning. The ground around the peak shook with the thunder of God’s presence. The people were afraid of what they saw and heard. In the midst of this powerful display, God made His Word known to His people. His power, His majesty, His concern, His provision, and His Word all converged there in that collision of power and Presence at the crest of Sinai.

And then God gives this invitation. He calls Moses to come to the burning top of Sinai that is electrified and rocking in God’s pulsing Person. And there His expectation of Moses is this: wait. “Come up here into my fearful Presence… and… wait.” Moses had heard the thunder, seen the lightning, felt the ground shake, and smelled the smoke. But there was more of God to be known than this… it would be known by waiting in His presence.

It is good to see this story when thinking about waiting on the Lord. This is the first Bible story to SHOW us what waiting looks like from the direct command of God. It informs for us what we really do when we wait. I often feel like I am waiting FOR God. “God, when are You gonna do something?” “How long until You act?” “Will You ever change this?” But that thinking shows I’ve got it all wrong. Instead God, like He was at Sinai, is always right there with me in the waiting. It isn’t that I am waiting FOR God… it is rather that I am waiting WITH God. It is true I may be waiting for a specific work of God, or an answer to a prayer, or for a hope to arrive. But the truth in the experience is, when waiting, I am always waiting WITH God Who is there alongside me. And just like Moses eventually received the Law written on stone from the hand of God and returned back down the mountain, so God will give something amazing as I wait with Him. As I think about and appreciate this, I too can accept that perhaps what I think is fog around me in the waiting is really the shroud of His presence pulling me into waiting WITH Him, trusting Him for the coming clear blessing.