You Will Fill The Shoes

29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals would multiply and threaten you. 30 I will drive them out a little at a time until your population has increased enough to take possession of the land.

 Exodus 23:29-30

Has God ever told you to slow down? God has placed amazing dreams in your heart. He has given you glimpses of the amazing things He wants to do in you and through you. He has given you the ambition and skills to move forward, but why isn’t it panning out? You see the vision clearly but God keeps telling you rest instead of rush. You know what the company should look like, but God doesn’t seem to let you have control over what you’ve been promised. You know you’re more than qualified to be CEO but God seems to be holding you to VP. You know you’ve been called to that church for a reason but God keeps telling you to listen and learn before making moves. You know what God has placed in you and promised to do through you but the victory isn’t coming as quickly as you’d expect. Why do you have to wait? 

The children of Israel are in a similar position. God had promised years before that this land of peace and prosperity would be theirs. This was the goal. This was more than a dream, they saw the signs pointing to it. God was moving mountains and getting them closer and closer to the goal. God has people like Moses lead and does amazing miracles through and around the people to get them closer and closer to this peace and prosperity of the promised land they were dreaming of. 

God says He will send an angel to protect and lead them. He is sending His presence with them. Not only that, He is going to send fear to their enemies so they run before the Israelites even have to fight. He’s going to clear the obstacles from their path. He will do all the work and they just need to trust Him. Israel doesn’t have to lift a finger. They’re destined for this. God can do it and it seems like He could do it in an instant if He chooses. They need to just follow and He will not just fight for them but bless them along the way. 

This is an AMAZING deal. They get the land God has promised for them and they just need to follow and rest in what He is doing. This 11 day trip has turned into 40 years and they are at the door separating them from what they’ve been promised. It’s about dang time. They are right there. The promise is looking them in the face. But God doesn’t let them run at it right way. There is more waiting to be done. God will do the work, but God says He won’t do it in an instant. It won’t take just one day. It won’t take just one year. He says He will drive out the current inhabitance of their land little by little.

It seems almost petty that God would make them wait so much. It seems absurd that they can’t run right into the position they’ve been waiting for. It seems almost like a cruel joke. But it seems more comical when you think of God’s reasoning. God tells them to go for the promise little by little because if they did it all at one time they’d run into more problems. Why? Because if He makes them all leave now, the wild animals will overpopulate and create more problems for the Israelites. God is telling them to wait because He is protecting them from what could harm them on the other side while further preparing the promise for them.

So is it possible that God may be postponing some of our blessings because He knows we aren’t big enough to fill the shoes yet? Is it possible that He is waiting for our hands to be big enough not to fumble the promise? Is it possible that God is holding us back because it will be better if it cooks for longer? Let’s go even deeper. Is it possible that God is keeping others in the positions we will soon hold as seat warmers, so that they can deal with the problems now and we won’t have to do deal with when it’s our turn?

Even waiting is for our good. You may know without a shadow of doubt who you’re called to marry. But God may keep pushing back the big day because He is in the background fixing things now so you won’t have to run into them in your marriage. You may have been ready to graduate with your friends but God had you wait one more year because He was preparing your dream job. You may be questioning why you are back at home while your friends are across the country working, but God is taking care of your loans now before you have to pay rent on your own. You may wonder why you were teased out of the position you were sure you would be offered, but God is having Davids fight the battles and establish the kingdom so that you as Solomon can rule next with better resources and land. The wait isn’t bad. God is working for your good in the background.

This was Israel’s land. God said that He would get them there and that He would prepare it for them! But if He got rid of the current inhabitance right now, it would overgrow and be too much for this young country of Israel to handle. God had a whole other country tending to Isreal’s fields and land before they got there so that it wouldn’t over grow. Maybe the wait wasn’t a bad thing.

This wait is also a chance for you to grow. God said “I will give it to you little by little as your size increases. As you grow I will give you more of the promise. You can’t handle it all now. But I will give you what is safe for you at this moment in time.” Platforms of greater weight and responsibility should never be taken lightly and rushed into. Those with spotlight and pressure crave the obscurity they can no longer have. Position comes with pressure. And many of us are rushing into “promise land positions” when we haven’t taken the intentional time to grow so that we don’t melt under the lights.

Don’t worry. The promise is still yours. God just wants to grow you until you get to a point where your blessing won’t also be a burden. A blessing out of season is a curse. Just wait. This is strategic. Better is coming. You know that. Trust His timing. There is stuff you can’t see that He is arranging for you. Your name is in the rooms you aren’t in. God is preparing it and you. You will fill the shoes. I could tell y’all so many stories of how I’ve seen this in my life. God’s playing 3D chess for you right now. You don’t even know the half of it. Don’t waste this season of obscurity. Don’t waste the season of waiting.

Something I’ve noticed is that the person who is most comfortable with waiting often gets the best harvest. Oven food is better than microwave food. Your ability to rest in Jesus and trust the process is what will prepare you for the promises others crave. It’s the work in the dark that brings you success in the light. Be careful about pushing for notoriety because bigger crowds mean louder critics. Be careful about asking for resources before you’re ready to hold the responsibility. If you don’t have it now, this opportunity is a chance of a life time to grow that you may never get back.

This could be a totally different devotional but I’ve noticed a trend. Those with thriving marriages have told me to cherish the growth I can do in singleness, while those who haven’t seen or experienced good marriages want me to rush. Statistics show that those who act married before they’re married aren’t typically married for long lol. People with thriving ministries have thanked God with me because I was able to be an associate pastor and learn in the dark before having all the pressure on my shoulders alone. But those who have an unhealthy obsession with spotlight and use ministry to nurse childhood wounds don’t understand the idea of me desiring to submit and learn as God grows me in the darkroom.

God gives us opportunities to wait and rest as He prepares us and the promises we are walking into. And I’ve noticed that those who turn their noses up at those opportunities to rest, wait, and learn as God prepares, are often the ones that have never really felt the weight of platform before. Those who fight commands to rest, end up trying to carry things on their own without God, and typically crash the hardest. The waits God calls you to are for your best good.

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