Psalms 27:14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
One of the issues people have with God is that most of us find He takes too long to do what promised He will do. Even though God is fully cognizant of time constraints the fact is that we dwell in time whereas God dwells in eternity and because of this, the lapse of time between God’s promises, and their ultimate fulfillment may seem a bit hard to bear.
God’s purposes know no haste or delay and after He has promised to do something for His people we are to wait in expectant hope for the fulfillment thereof even if it takes much longer than we had previously anticipated. Whenever we indulge impatience with God, the temptation to go contrary to His revealed will seems more and more feasible with the passage of time.
In considering the pros and cons of obedience, and trusting in God, persons should understand this one basic fact in the spiritual realm, it’s that desperation always makes alternatives look more attractive. If things are going smoothly, the way we expect, then we are more prone to follow the script. But if our backs are put against a wall as in desperation, other alternatives suddenly seem more feasible.
As persons succumbed to panic buying during the last recent housing boom some folks were willing to buy homes without inspection, and one went so far as to purchase a home that was advertised as “the house from hell.” This particular home was listed in Colorado Springs, and promptly received multiple cash offers.
Under normal circumstances such properties would be immediately frowned upon, but as the housing crunch tightened its grasp around the necks of the prospective buyers, people became willing to settle for homes that were way below par. That’s because desperation drives persons to do, what they would not normally do under favorable circumstances.
As individuals became panic stricken at the thought that the former president could potentially win the most recent general election, some persons became increasingly desperate to oust him, even if it meant holding their noses and voting for the alternative on the ballot. With some persons, it came right down to the wire where their decision was “Anybody but Trump”
That’s because desperation often drives persons to consider alternatives which seem more attractive as persons go into panic mode. Satan understands this quite well, and he often tailors temptations to meet and cater to desperation in persons, where the right thing seems too farfetched, and wrong alternatives seem much more feasible in the given situation.
When Saul and his army became faint and hungry in battle, the Hebrews became desperate for food and they then did what they would not do under normal circumstances for they ate the meat with the blood, something that is strictly forbidden in the scripture, yet because of the gnawing pangs of hunger, blood suddenly seemed attractive. Let’s read:
1st Samuel 14:31 And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were very faint.
32 And the people flew upon the spoil, and took
sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the blood.
33 Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the Lord, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day.
As we consider the plight of the Hebrews, we have to wonder if we ourselves would be driven to eat of forbidden foods, if we got extremely hungry, to the point of desperation, and if there was not anything else available.
As Christ became so emaciated with hunger, in the wilderness of temptation, satan attempted to take advantage of the situation as he had so successfully done with many human beings on several previous occasions. There is a saying that a hungry man is an angry man, but anger can result in irrational actions.
Again, Job’s wife more than likely was a God-fearing person, up to that point when satan was allowed to shake down everything they’d worked for over the years. As the heat of the furnace was ratcheted up for several notches, Job’s wife became increasingly desperate, and made a suggestion, which she would not have made under normal circumstances.
Again, the two women who had birthed children in the same location in Solomons day, brought their case before the king for resolution, after one of the women became so desperate, that she resorted to stealing the other’s baby, something she would not have done under normal circumstances.
Again, some individuals can become so desperate to get married that they will settle for someone who may not fit the bill. And as loneliness and aging take a toll, some go into a panic mode, only to suffer the proverbial buyer’s remorse after tying the knot. This is what took place with Samson, who believed that it was now or never, do or die, in marrying someone whom God did not approve of.
Under normal circumstances, Abraham most likely would not have succumbed to the suggestion that he should have a child by Sarah’s handmaid, Hagar, for he was a righteous man. But as they both grew increasingly impatient with the fulfillment of God’s promise, the alternative on the table looked more and more feasible.
If Sarah was not barren, and if she had not passed the age of child bearing, it is quite likely that there would be a stellar record of faithfulness to his wife, for there would be no logical or plausible reason to have Hagar, and Sarah would be furious with him if she got wind of even a thought in Abraham’s mind of such a rendezvous.
But as time passed by, and the stated promises of God began to fade into oblivion in their minds, the alternatives began to take on a life of their own and what would have once seemed as unthinkable and ludicrous, now seemed viable, and the only possible route for them to take.
What is amazing is that the alternative now began to be incorporated into God’s plans, in their minds, as if God had originally intended for them to go that route. That’s how far persons can go and that’s how deluded persons can become, when placed into a desperate situation. Let’s read:
Genesis 15: 2 And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
4 And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
It’s not to say that Sarah and Abraham did not wait at all, they had waited, but the question is how long is reasonable for them to wait? One year, ten years, twenty years? And should we, in our experience put a threshold on patience, when waiting for a promise of God to be fulfilled in our lives?
Thus, impatience will often breed desperation, and desperation often drives persons to do that which, under normal circumstances, they would not even consider. A wife has to become pretty desperate for her to offer another woman to her husband; yet in this instance, the sheer length of time it was taking for the promise to be materialized, made polygamy seem as a viable option. Let’s read:
Genesis 16:1 Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.
2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.
3 And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.
Our first passage stated that we should wait on The Lord, but the passage does not include a stipulated time frame for waiting and as a result persons often would get impatient, and desperate, and do things which should never be done.
What should be observed, as we study the issue of desperation, is that there is always some adverse fallout when, in desperation, folks would reach for alternatives that are contrary to scripture. Always!
Sarah and Abraham did not cater for the possibility of Hagar getting an attitude, because the deal was supposed to be restricted only to the issue of child- bearing.
But Hagar became proud, as she came to believe in her mind, that she was carrying the son of promise thus, the changes in her attitude produced a lot of bickering and arguments in Abraham’s home where peace and tranquility had previously reigned. Let’s read:
Genesis 16:4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee.
6 But Abram said unto Sarai, Behold, thy maid is in thine hand; do to her as it pleases thee. And when Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.
[Patriarchs And prophets pp 145] Flattered with the honor of her new position as Abraham's wife, and hoping to be the mother of the great nation to descend from him, Hagar became proud and boastful, and treated her mistress with contempt.
Mutual jealousies disturbed the peace of the once happy home. Forced to listen to the complaints of both, Abraham vainly endeavored to restore harmony. Though it was at Sarah's earnest entreaty that he had married Hagar, she now reproached him as the one at fault.
She desired to banish her rival but Abraham refused to permit this; for Hagar was to be the mother of his child as he fondly hoped the son of promise. Hagar's haughty spirit would not brook the harshness which her insolence had provoked. “When Sarai dealt hardly with her, she fled from her face.”
This leads us to another instance in the scriptures in which desperation drove some wives to do similarly strange things. As Rachel wrestled with the fact that she couldn’t have children, she became increasingly frustrated, and she vented her exasperation with an unreasonable request that caused Jacob to question the viability of her petition. Let’ read:
Genesis 30:1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
2 And Jacob's anger was kindled against Rachel: and he said, Am I in God's stead, who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
Then as time went by, without any light at the end of the tunnel, Rachel became desperate to the point of suggesting that which she would otherwise have recoiled from. It is usually at such a breaking point, when devils would suggest things that would set in motion a chain of negative circumstances, which in themselves could become a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. Let’s read
Genesis 30:3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.
5 And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son.
6 And Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son: therefore, called she his name Dan.
7 And Bilhah Rachel's maid conceived again, and bare Jacob a second son.
8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.
9 When Leah saw that she had left bearing, she took Zilpah her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
10 And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a son.
11 And Leah said, A troop cometh: and she called his name Gad.
12 And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second son.
Note well, how increasing desperation becomes the channel through which polygamy then becomes the norm in Jacob’s household. At first, it was awkward, but by repetition, the evil becomes deeply etched in their consciences to the point where it doesn’t even disturb Jacob anymore.
But it does not stop here, as desperation continues to fuel all kinds of actions in the home that would have been unthinkable under normal circumstances as will always be the case when persons succumb to feelings of exasperation. Let’s read:
Genesis 30:14 And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes.
15 And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? and would you take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son's mandrakes.
In our own life experiences, we too would come up against situations that would put our patience to the test, and yes, like those who have gone before, we may become increasingly desperate, especially if we have been praying to God, but haven’t received any answer as yet.
There are important takeaways from the very many instances we observed earlier; lessons which should now be incorporated into our life experiences. First up is that we should never permit desperation to force us to do that which is unscriptural, because desperation does not make the wrong right.
When David resorted to lying, by pretending he was a mad man, he was spared the supposed wrath of the pagan king, who was presently alerted to the fact that David had slain their champion, even the ignoble Goliath. Fear had caused David to do what he did, but fear does not justify the use of falsehood in any way shape or form.
The maxim that the end justifies the means is one of satanic origin, for it proposes that the tail wag the dog’s head, if nothing else can be done. There is always something else that can be done, and it is to be found in the scriptures, by which man must live.
It ought to be a settled decision in our minds as we move forward, that whatever the situation may be, and no matter how grave and urgent, we would tow the line of following God’s instructions, even at the times when we need to hear from Him urgently and it may seem as if He isn’t answering.
It took a while for God to answer Job, in a situation when Job was really searching for answers. Yet God permitted days on end to pass by, without saying a word. At such times God’s ways and methods seem unfathomable to mortal minds, yet He still remains The On-time God that He is.
Joseph spent no less than ten full years in Jail, as he waited and hoped for deliverance. Yet, the scripture states clearly that The Lord was with Joseph, which means that the dross which needed to be removed from his character must be accomplished, before he could be trusted with the weighty responsibilities of being the second head of state.
Another lesson we can extract from the experiences of those who have gone before, is that desperation should not allow our faith in God to be shaken. This one is huge, for human frailty and unbelief can loom pretty large in the face of exasperation about the unknown.
As John sat in prison, he expected Jesus to at least come and visit him, for two very valid reasons, as far as John was concerned. [1] Because Jesus was his relative. [2] Because he, John was the stipulated forerunner of Christ.
Thus, as the days turned into weeks, and as weeks turned into months, John’s faith was severely tested to the point where he agreed to send some of his disciples to find out if Christ was the promised One Israel was to look for. These things are written in the scriptures so that we who study them may learn the important lessons of trusting in God against all odds.
Again, another important lesson we must take away from the scriptural examples of desperation, is that we must be very careful of becoming unreasonable when we are at our wits end. This is what Rachel did as she demanded of Jacob that he give her children.
Now it is true that we do understand her frustration but frustration should never be permitted to push a Christian into saying and doing irrational things. It’s at such times that we need to be very careful of any words that escape our lips, because in the heat of the moment, we might utter things we may deeply regret later on.
Waiting on God in faith has to be something that is open-ended, leaving the fulfillment of promises, or some intervention on His part, solely up to Him. It is one of the most difficult lessons we will all need to learn, as difficulties continue to multiply across the globe.
A few weeks ago, we raised the prospect from the scriptures, that a water fight is looming large on the horizon, and since that time things have only taken a turn for the worse, not only here in the U.S., but also in Europe and China, where manufacturing was forced into shutdown in two major production hubs because of the excessive heat and because of a dire lack of rain.
With the world, desperate times require desperate measures, but with the Christian, desperate times will require more faith in God especially as the book of Revelation points to a major crunch time coming in the not-too-distant future.
Let us therefore treasure those precious lessons of walking by faith, which God gives us from time to time, and let desperation be held subservient to truth and duty, for this is what will see us through any and every frustration we may find ourselves in.
We therefore end with a passage of scripture that should enable us to cultivate a calm, trusting spirit instead of desperation, in a world where everyone seems to be increasingly on edge. Let’s read:
Psalms 46: God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
God Bless!