City Life Starter

The Word: Exodus 32:1-8

When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.”

2 So Aaron said, “Take the gold rings from the ears of your wives and sons and daughters, and bring them to me.”

3 All the people took the gold rings from their ears and brought them to Aaron.4 Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, “O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

5 Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, “Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!”

6 The people got up early the next morning to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. After this, they celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.

7 The Lord told Moses, “Quick! Go down the mountain! Your people whom you brought from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves. 8 How quickly they have turned away from the way I commanded them to live! They have melted down gold and made a calf, and they have bowed down and sacrificed to it. They are saying, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

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By Aisha Darwesh

The story from today’s scripture is kind of a hard read. While Moses was on the mountain with God issuing the ten commandments on tablets of stone, the Israelites grew tired of waiting, formed an idol, and indulged in pagan revelry. As I read the above passage, it comes as such a shock to my system, but then how often are we guilty of doing the same thing?

What’s so interesting to me is the finger of God was writing on the stone tablets while the children of Israel were waiting at the foot of the mountain. That was an Old Covenant foreshadowing of what God does in the New Covenant. In the New Covenant, God writes His law on the tablets of our hearts:

15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says,

16 “This is the new covenant I will make

    with my people on that day, says the Lord:

I will put my laws in their hearts,

and I will write them on their minds.” –Hebrews 10:15-16

While the Israelites waited at the foot of the mountain, God was forming a covenant with His people. However, they mistook their having to wait for a lack of leadership and turned to idol worship to guide them.

I think we have a tendency to do the same if we’re not softened to God. He may be whispering to your heart right now, but if you are not actively waiting and listening for His voice, then you might think He’s not there and will seek other things for satisfaction.

However, there is the only One who truly satisfies our deepest needs, and He is well worth the wait. There could be any number of reasons our prayers are not answered in the way we’re expecting, but one thing is for sure: God is intimately aware of what’s going on in your life and wants to help guide you through it.

I think a huge misconception people have about God when they feel like their prayers are not being heard/answered is that He doesn’t care about them. Yet there is scripture after scripture in the Bible to prove that He does:

6 What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. 7 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. (Luke 12:6-7)

You keep track of all my sorrows.

You have collected all my tears in your bottle.

You have recorded each one in your book. (Psalm 56:8)

16 You saw me before I was born.

   Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

   before a single day had passed.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me,[b] O God.

   They cannot be numbered!

18 I can’t even count them;

   they outnumber the grains of sand!

And when I wake up,

   you are still with me! (Psalm 139:16-18)

God does care about you even if your prayers haven’t been answered in the way you were expecting. Unanswered prayer is no reason to shy away from God. He’s bigger than our problems and He’s bigger than the solution to our problems.

What’s most important is not necessarily the answer to your prayer, but the state of your heart towards God. Are you pushing Him away because of your circumstances? I implore you today: don’t. Don’t harden your heart to God.

19 And so, dear brothers and sisters,[f] we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20 By his death,[g] Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21 And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:19-25)

Prayer:

Father, I want to thank you for hearing my prayers. For those prayers that I’m still waiting for answers on, Lord, I just want to say I trust You. You know everything about me. You know what makes me tick. I lay those burdens at your feet and trust you with the outcome. In Jesus Name, Amen