Waiting Well: The Importance of Staying in God's Presence

I love listening to discussions about black thought, black plight....stuff like that. One of my most favorite conversations is the dialogue between Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin. Since my first time watching it years ago, I've watched the 2-hr conversation probably 3 or 4 times and read the transcript a few additional times. I don't subscribe to everything they believe, but, maybe the journalist in me, enjoys hearing their thoughts.

At one point in the conversation they start talking about morals and Mark 8:36 comes up, which says "What does it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul?" Based on all of her experiences, Giovanni's response is basically like "What is the profit? I get the world." At one point she literally says, "You can have Jesus. Give me the world."

Now when I first heard that, I didn't judge Auntie Nikki. I didn't agree with her (...and I still don't...pleeeassse put me in the Jesus Line!☝🏾) but I heard...or better yet wondered about the underlying pain that would cause such a desperate, but crass (for the lack of a better word👀) response. 

Fast forward to this week, I found myself reading Exodus 33. 

At this point in the story Moses has led the children of Israel out of Egypt. God calls Moses to the top of a mountain where God's basically giving him instructions on their new society. Meanwhile the children of Israel are getting impatient. They're waiting on Moses for the next steps but he's been on the mountain so long and they don't know if the man is dead or what. So, at the request of the people, Aaron (Moses brother/assistant) builds a gold calf for the children of Israel to worship. God sees it and tells Moses go get ya people cause if I go, they finna be gone. Moses does some advocating for the people...trying to calm God down before he, rightfully so, destroys these people. When Moses gets back to the people, he lights into them. He burns the gold calf and some people die....that was chapter 32. By the time 33 comes, God is like....I promised y'all a land flowing with milk and honey. I'm gonna make good on my promise. So, y'all can go ahead and go to the land. I sent an angel to get it ready for y'all....but I'm not going with y'all because I'm already knowing...the way y'all be acting, if I go I will 100% kill all of y'all...and then I'm gone look like the bad person. So, yeah...go ahead...the land is yours but I'm out.

Exodus 33 had me all week. Like...God really said y'all can have what I promised you, but I'm not bout to be there. It got me thinking about God's presence...and really how IMPORTANT it is. I mean, gaining the world might be great....but to not have God's presence when I get? What am I supposed to do with it? 

1- God's promises without his presence is a curse.

When the people heard what God said about them, they got scared. The Bible literally said they went into mourning...

Why are you mourning when you're getting what God promised you? 

Why? Because they were getting God's promise without his presence...and any time you get God's promises without his presence, you're getting a curse. 

The Bible says the blessings of the Lord maketh rich and adds no sorrow with it. The bible also says that in the presence of God is the fullness of Joy.

Can you imagine getting everything you'd been praying, fighting for...and then when you get there you can't even enjoy it? I mean...what's the point?

Gaining the world may be great...but what happens when the way you got it prevents you from enjoying it?

In Exodus 33:15 Moses says, "If you don't personally go with us, don't make us leave this place."

It's so interesting that Moses says "personally go with us." In order to enjoy and effectively operate in all the places that God will allow me to occupy...I need him in a personal way. When the assignment and the journey is this crucial, I can't get by on old stories and pieces of other people's testimony. No! I need my PERSONAL God...and how sweet it is to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The ULTIMATE comfort, the ULTIMATE guide...

Thank GOD for the SWEET promise of the Holy Spirit. 

We can't get so caught up in trying to attain the promises of God or even trying to console ourselves while we wait for the promises of God that we step out of His presence. It's been said before, whatever you do to get something is what you'll have to do to keep it. We can't step outside of God's presence to get His promises...and then expect God to help us sustain the promise. That sounds ridiculous!

2 - Impatience causes you to act impractically.  

What made the children of Israel think they could have God's presence while they worshiped and celebrated another false god? The children of Israel sound crazy, right....but we're not too much different.

What makes us think that finessing our way through a situation will bring about the blessing from God that we need? 

What makes us think sinning is the best pathway to the blessing from a righteous God?

Why do we do that? Cause we don't wait well.

Impatience is the breeding ground for insensibility...which leads to impractical, thoughtless actions...like abandoning God's presence. We get so tired of waiting on our proverbial Moses to come down from the mountain with our next set of instructions that we try to take things into our own hands. We say stuff like, "Oh, Imma make it happen..." when we can't even see or understand everything that's going on. The children of Israel did it, Sara and Abraham did it, and you and me do it, too.

...but shout out to God for his mercy! He's given us chance after chance to WAIT ON HIM! Sure we might be good enough to make some stuff shake on our own, but it's always better when we wait on God for God things....instead of settling for just good things. 

3 - God's presence identifies me!

We know that God's promise without his presence is a curse, but Moses in Exodus 33:15 takes it step further and says without God's presence we're not even identifiable. In verse 16 he says, "How will anyone know that you look favorably on me- on me and your people- if you don't go with us? For your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the Earth."

Our identity is literally found in God's presence. We are identified by God and without Him, how are we to even exist in any of His blessings? 

A quick Google search says Identity is the fact of being who or what a person or thing is. We can't even be who we are without God's presence. The psalmist said "It is HE who hath made us...not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture." Everything that we are is in relation to who God is. How can we be identified if His presence is not present?

So, listen...I get that the journey can be rough. I get that it can take a long time to get the stuff you want. I've been transparent about my lack of patience...but waiting well is worth it. God, PLEASE, help us to wait well!

Although Auntie Nikki couldn't see it back then...hopefully now we all understand that...if we give up the gift of God's presence in an attempt to gain His promise, we won't be able to fully enjoy that promise.