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Issue link: http://magazine.kcm.org/i/1536110
B V O V : 1 9 by Gloria Copeland but also among Christians trying to stay connected to God's Master Plan. Once we get a glimpse of what God has called us to do and who He has called us to be, we often become impatient. We become weary of the growth process and the time it takes to see God's plans fully realized. So, like children, we pester God with that familiar old question, "Are we there yet?" When it becomes clear the answer is no, we can easily get cranky and irritable. We start wondering why this whole thing is taking so long. And it is at precisely this point many believers begin disconnecting from God's plan. They become discouraged and tired of waiting for their divinely inspired hopes and dreams to come true. So they start badgering God about those things, pushing Him to give them everything they want—right now! But it takes time for God's plans to develop. Even though God has the ability to work instantly and miraculously to bring things to pass, usually, He does things by process. He brings them forth gradually—over days, weeks, months, even years. That's why, before He took the Israelites into the Promised Land, He warned them in advance that it would take time for them to overcome all the enemies there and fully occupy the land. He said: But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites and the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will cut them o …. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the fi eld become too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land (Exodus 23:22-23, 29-30, New King James Version). If you listen, you'll discover God is saying the same thing to you. He is telling you in advance it will take time for all the good things He has planned for you to develop. So, if you want to stay connected, you must learn to be patient with that process. Learn to do what immature children everywhere fi nd almost impossible— sit back and enjoy the journey. The Israelites weren't very good at that. When they were on their journey to Canaan, their patience with God's process quickly wore thin. They didn't want to wait for God's plans regarding them to develop. So, as the days went by, they grew increasingly irritable with the tedium of the wilderness. As we've already seen, they expressed that irritation by complaining about almost everything along the way. They griped about the dangers and fussed about the scarcity of water. They wailed about the lack of food and even after God miraculously provided food for them, they got upset because that food was too boring. They craved something spicier than the heavenly bread that continually rained on them from the sky and, most shocking of all, they doubted God's ability to provide it for When we give in to impatience and anxiety, or rush ahead of God, trying to carry out His plan in our own, natural strength, that divine connection is interrupted. " "