Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. So the people spoke against God and Moses: “Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we are disgusted with this miserable food.” Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. (3-6)
The journey through the wilderness was not an easy one. In this passage, we again find Israel wandering and facing many challenges. Of course, these challenges they were facing resulted from their own disobedience to God. We sometimes brush past that, but we are often sleeping in a bed that we ourselves made and then asking God why He is not delivering us. They refused to go into the promised land because of fear, and now they are on a 40-year journey of discovery and learning to walk by faith and not sight.
Their refusal to go into the promised land and face the giants that waited for them there only led to other hardships and obstacles while wandering in the wilderness. We can all relate to their impatience on the journey and might have joined in their complaints about the lack of food and water, as well as their steady diet of manna every day. However, the bottom line is that God has no patience with our impatience. Grumbling and complaining are something we all do (me especially), but it greatly displeases God. It displeases Him because it fails to recognize our own contribution to our plight and His faithful care for us, even though we don’t deserve it.
It is no wonder that in the New Testament, patience is listed as one of the fruits of the Spirit (See Galatians 5:22). When you walk in the Spirit, God produces patience in you and gives you the resilience to persevere and even find joy on the journey. The opposite is also true. Walking in the flesh is what leads us to be impatient and constantly ask God, “how much longer?” The Israelites did not complain because they had a right to complain. They complained because they were walking in the flesh and not walking by faith. Do you find yourself struggling with impatience on your journey? That is a heart issue solved by repentance and surrender to the control of the Holy Spirit. Only He can manifest His patience in your heart.
