Exodus 24:12-18 (HCSB)
The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay there so that I may give you the stone tablets with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”
So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua and went up the mountain of God. He told the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has a dispute should go to them.” When Moses went up the mountain, the cloud covered it. The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day He called to Moses from the cloud. The appearance of the Lord’s glory to the Israelites was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop. Moses entered the cloud as he went up the mountain, and he remained on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights.
Imagine this scene. You have a crew of 70+ people with you, and those people are representing a whole nation of people following your command. You tell those 70 people, “Wait here. I’m going to hear from God.” You climb the mountain with your assistant, and you wait. Day one comes and goes, and there you are, still waiting. Day two comes and goes. You know you have 70 people waiting for you, expecting you to deliver a word from God. Day three comes and goes. You have a whole nation of people anticipating your return. Day four comes and goes. Day five. Day six. Finally, on day seven, God shows up. Then, as if the seven days wasn’t enough, God has you remain there for 40 days and 40 nights.
How amazing is this? I get discouraged when I spend ten minutes in silent waiting for God. A half hour seems like cruel and unusual punishment. It feels like I’m not getting anywhere. “Have I done something to separate myself from God? Have I distanced myself from His voice?” The thoughts of inadequacy and failure are almost unbearable. Moses waited on a mountain for six days before he heard from God. His followers were waiting and he knew it. Talk about pressure! Six days of silence and waiting. But God was faithful.
Then what? God was faithful to show up, but what was required? 40 more days of solitude on the mountain. And what did Moses return to? The people got tired of waiting and built a golden calf to worship. Let’s be honest – they waited for over a month! That’s pretty wild. But imagine how Moses felt. He just waited in solitude for six days to hear from God, then stayed with God another 40 days in solitude on a mountain to deliver God’s word to these people. He wasn’t vacationing in Maui. And he comes back to see his people have abandoned him and God.
Moses did what he was supposed to do. He answered the call of God. Yet still, he waited. For days, he waited. God saw his faithfulness, and yet what God required was a further show of faithfulness. “Great, you put in the time! Now, put in more time.” Moses answered the call. What was his reward? Success? Honor from the people? No. Betrayal and abandonment. He did everything right, but everything looked wrong.
What is the guiding voice in my life? Is it the appearance of success? Am I driven by how outward circumstances are playing out? By the success of my job or my influence or my ministry? Or am I driven by the voice of God? Am I content with waiting for days and days in silence because I know that God has called me, or do I get discouraged after 30 minutes and busy myself with something that makes me seem successful? When something I’m in charge of bombs, do I quit because it didn’t go how I wanted it to? Do I imagine God has left me? Or do I pick up the pieces, return to the mountain, sit in God’s presence again, and come back ready for more?
If I answer these questions honestly, I’m on the wrong side of the spectrum more often than not. But isn’t that what God’s word is for? To teach us and correct us and rebuke us and train us? Oh, how I long for the steadfast faith of Moses. To be attached to God, not to success, not to easy-going progress, not to busyness and productivity. I want to care more about following God’s voice than about “looking the part,” whatever that means. I don’t want to care about what the group of followers are thinking. It doesn’t matter. God is calling me.
I want to be the type of person who can wait in solitude, expecting God but hearing nothing, and continue to wait because I know He’s there. I think if I’m ever going to become that person and not just stay a wanna-be, that means actually going “up the mountain,” to my place of solitude, and waiting, and listening, and being okay with silence for however long the season may be. Because at the end of it all, He’s there. And He’s faithful. So, that’s the action step. That’s where I’m going. And I’m encouraging you to do the same.
The Endeavor 