Waiting on the Faithfulness of God

Waiting is hard, waiting for something you long for, even more so. There are so many things we wait for in life, but waiting for someone to fulfill their promises can be frustrating and make us impatient. As Christians, our waiting should look a little different; the Bible teaches us that even in our waiting, we must remain faithful to God and be patient. God is faithful and trustworthy; He always keeps His promises. Are you willing to wait patiently? Could you remain faithful, steadfast, and patient even if it took 45 years for someone to fulfill their promise? Or an entire lifetime?

Turning to the book of Joshua, we can see an example of true faith and patience. Caleb, of the tribe of Judah, son of Jephunneh, was chosen to be sent out as a spy into the land of Canaan. God had brought His people out of the land of Egypt, as He had promised He would. When they drew near to the land of Canaan, the Lord commanded Moses, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel” (Numbers 13:1). When they returned, after 40 days, to give a report, the other men showed a lack of faith in God’s promises. The other men reported that the land flowed with milk and honey, but they added, “However, the people who dwell in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. And besides, we saw the descendants of Anak there” (Numbers 13:28). The sons of Anak were considered giants, and the people were afraid.

Caleb, however, trusted God’s word. In Numbers 13:30, Caleb tells Moses and the people, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” Despite Caleb’s report, the other spies doubted and brought a

    bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” (Numbers 13:31-33)

The people of Israel did not heed Caleb’s words; instead, they doubted God’s word and listened to the other spies. The people grumbled and complained against Moses and Aaron, but Caleb’s faith stayed strong, and he

    said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” (Numbers 14:7-9).

Still, the people’s faith was lacking, and they went so far as to want to stone Joshua and Caleb for their words. God did not allow the people to harm His faithful servants, and He intervened: “the glory of the LORD appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel” (Numbers 14:10).

God keeps His promises, even the promises for punishment.

    But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. (Numbers 14:21-24)

God punished the people for their lack of faith. “Of the men who went to spy out the land, only Joshua, son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh remained alive.” (Numbers 14:38). The Lord told them that they would bear their iniquity for forty years, one year for every day the spies were gone. Not one of the people over 20 years of age would come into the promised land, except for Joshua and Caleb. The people still did not listen and “presumed to go up to the heights of the hill country, although neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses departed out of the camp.” (Numbers 14:44).  The people were defeated because they were not willing to wait for the Lord to fulfill His word.

God told the people they would wander the desert for 40 years, until all those whom He spoke of were dead. Caleb’s faith remained strong throughout those years, and God blessed and rewarded him for His faithfulness. Joshua 14 tells us of Caleb’s request for Hebron as fulfillment of God’s promise. He was faithful to God and trusted God to help them drive out the Canaanites, despite having seen their great cities and the giant people. 45 years after the promise was made, Caleb still trusted God, saying,

    So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said. (Joshua 14:12)

Even though he knew they would have to fight the sons of Anak, he continued to encourage others and was confident God would give him and his descendants the land. Joshua 15:13-19 tells us how he drove out the sons of Anak from the land. Despite it taking 45 years, Caleb trusted God and waited for Him to fulfill His promises.

We too need to remain faithful and patient and trust that God will keep His promises. We can rely on God’s faithfulness; the evidence of the Lord’s reliability is seen throughout history. He promised the Israelites a land flowing with milk and honey, and He gave it to them. He promised Caleb an inheritance, and He gave him the land of Hebron. He promised Simeon “that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26), and in Luke 2, Simeon meets Jesus as his parents bring Him to the temple for purification, according to the law. God promised a Savior, and He sent His only Son to die for our sins.

Like Micah 7:7, we too should confidently say, “As for me, I look to the Lord for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me.” The Psalms also speak of how we are to wait for the Lord. In Psalm 27:14, we are commanded to “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.” And in Psalm 40:1, David says, “I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and He turned to me and heard my cry.”

Waiting is hard; waiting for the desires of your heart to be fulfilled is even harder. Do you trust God to keep His promises? Are you patiently waiting for His return? I know there are times in life when we look at this world and plead for Christ’s swift return, but how do we spend our time while we wait?

Trust in the Lord, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him, and he will act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

(Psalm 37:3-7)

The Bible is clear: God is faithful to keep His promises. When life has made the waiting hard, turn to His word to find comfort and strength. He is good, He is constant and trustworthy, and if you delight yourself in Him, He will give you the desires of your heart. Trust and obey, and wait patiently for the Lord.