What is Your Time Tolerance?

What is your Time Tolerance?
By Rev. Robert P. Elkins
All Scripture verse taken from the NIV Bible unless otherwise noted



“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him.” (Exodus 32:1)

How long are we willing to wait upon the Lord? When it comes to waiting upon our Lord what is our time tolerance? If we petitioned our Lord God in prayer right now how long would we be willing to wait for a response before we started to look for an answer from another resource or started to take matters into our own hands? If we stop to think about it, just how different are we now today than the Hebrew people were when the events of the book of Exodus were written? The Bible, that grand and wonderful Word of God tells us that after Moses had led the Hebrews out of Egypt and into the desert he then went up on a mountain and was gone for forty days. Granted if one is out in the middle of a desert where we have never been and where we know little to nothing about the region being left alone for forty days may cause a little stress in a nice compact group of say close to one million people. If you were to look in the book of Exodus in the twelfth chapter it tells us that there were about six hundred thousand men on foot and many women and children so I would think a round estimate of one million people is not all that far from the actual number, besides I doubt that anyone actually stood there and counted them as then passed by. So if we were left out in the desert with no television or cell phones, no computers or newspapers to help us pass the time and we are with one million of our closest friends how long do you think we would last before we started to get a little bit on edge?

Now we have to remember that these same million people just left Egypt, the place where they as a nation of people had been for the past few hundred years with most but not all of that time being under bondage as slaves so they were in an environment that was completely foreign to them. But they were the same million people that had just seen some mighty impressive miracles too. This group of people just witnessed the parting of the Red Sea allowing them to pass through a valley of water held back by nothing other than the power of their God. Then they witnessed that same body of water to come crashing down on the army of the Egyptians drowning every last one of them thus allowing them save exit from the land of Egypt. They had been witnessing on a daily basis how their God and protector was giving them a pillar of clouds to shield them from the scorching heat of the desert day and a pillar of fire to warm them from the cold that sets in at night in that same desert. And of course let us not forget the mighty miracles they witnessed God perform that smashed the gods of Egypt. That miracle turned the heart of Pharaoh and convinced him that it was time to allow the Hebrews to leave his land. Little things like the plagues of turning the water of the Nile River into blood. An invasion of lice, frogs, flies, locusts, the infestation of boils, cattle disease, three days of darkness and the killing of the first born child of every Egyptian family while at the same time the angel of death passing over every Hebrew family. All of these people now in the desert had just been witness to these miracles of God and were well aware of just what God could do when he so desired. But when left in the desert for forty days without their leader, Moses, how did they respond to this situation? They instantly approached Aaron and demanded a false idol be made, something they could see and touch, thinking that if they had something right there in their midst then everything would be okay. They instantly forget all of the wonders they had just seen. They instantly forgot all they had just experienced personally and they ran after a false sense of security that could do nothing for them.

If man made carved idols and golden objects could do anything, if these things generated from the mind and through the will of men could save anyone from any kind of harm, wouldn’t they have worked in saving the Egyptians? The Egyptians had many of these things; they had many gods and statues or false images. If we were to do a little research we would see that the ten plagues God brought upon Egypt were each designed to show our Lord’s might and authority over the false gods of Egypt. The Hebrews knew these things didn’t have any worth or value in offering any kind of protection and yet this is what they wanted. So what do you think of their time tolerance? Obviously the people in the desert didn’t have the benefit of knowing the verse pertaining to patience that we can look up as found in the book of (James 1:2-4). “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” We are truly blessed to have the wisdom that is to be found in the New Testament.

(Exodus 32:2-4) “Aaron answered them, "Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me." So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt”.

If we look at the wording in this verse it says that Aaron, at the will of the people, collected the earrings from the people and then made a gold calf out of them. Sounds somewhat simple doesn’t it? You gather the gold, melt it down and make the little gold calf to use as a god. But now let’s give this a little thought and see what we can come up with. To start with Aaron had to collect the earrings from hundreds of thousands of people, so that had to take quite a bit of time just for the gathering of the metal. Now where are the people? In the middle of the desert right? Since there were craftsmen in the group that were experts in metal casting I’m sure they had their tools with them but Aaron had to get them together to do the casting, more time needed. Now unless someone was carrying with them a model of the calf they wanted to cast in gold a model had to be made. That’s how you make a cast idol. First you need a model of what you want to cast, usually that would be made of wood, so someone had to make that, a wooden hand carved calf; more time needed. Then you pack this in sand to make the casting mold, split the mold to get your model out and put the mold back together, melt the gold and pour the idol. All of this takes time mind you, once the idol is cast it needs to me finished, the rough edges filed off, most likely a little polishing and them at last you have a handy dandy foreign idol ready for use that of course can’t be of any value at all. You may wonder why I bothered to list all of these little details but there is a purpose in my thought process and it is something I want you to take into consideration as we look at this interesting chain of events.

Do you remember how long Moses was gone? Forty days the Scriptures tell us, that’s from the time Moses left until he returned, a somewhat long time when you are lost in the desert without a leader. But if we stop to think about it that isn’t such a long time when we look at the amount of work that was required for making the golden calf. When we think of all the steps that were required, the gathering, the mold making, and the casting process and finishing, forty days isn’t such a long time at all. So if we look at the over all picture, the Hebrew people had to have started to talk amongst themselves within days or perhaps even hours after Moses first walked out of camp and headed up the mountain. Granted a word of disturbance can pass from person to person quite quickly but we are talking about people that have just been witness to some of the greatest miracles of all time! And then within a few days at best there were thinking that all hope was lost and they had to take matters into their own hands and figure out a way to bail themselves out of the situation they were in, that being in a desert and without a leader and questioning the power and love of the God that had done so much for them. So they didn’t have much of a time tolerance did they?

And so now we bring this study around to looking at each of us today. How much time are we willing to allow to pass before we start to doubt and question our God after we have offered prayer to him for something? Just what is our time tolerance and when does it expire before we start to look for a way to solve the problem ourselves? We experience a need or concern, we offer prayer over this concern and then we wait for God’s response. But is that sufficient for us or, do we need to do more? (1st Thessalonians 5:16-18) says, “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus”. (Psalm 62:8) says, “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge”. And (Psalm 86:3) says, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long”. The Scriptures are pretty clear as to how much time we need to give before we start to question our God. Pray continually, in all circumstances, trust in Him at all times and call out to Him all the daylong. I guess what the Scriptures are telling us is that we are to be trusting in God and calling upon his Holy Name as long as we have breath in our bodies.

Now let’s look at what it says in (Exodus 32:7-8) “Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt”. I love the way God talks to Moses here; God shows us that he really is a Father to us all. Just like a human father reacts when a child is unruly and the father is talking to the mother, this is how Father God is talking to Moses. “Moses, go down to your people, the ones you brought out of Egypt and have a talk with them because I’m mad right now and if I have a talk with them I’m liable to just wipe them off the face of the world and start all over again with a whole new bunch”. I know God didn’t say all of that in verses seven and eight, but he does when you get to verse nine and ten. (Exodus 32:9-10) “I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation”.

We can see in this verse that God is truly frustrated with the people and that God is just about ready to wipe them all from the face of the earth and start over again with Moses. The time tolerance of the people was quite evident to God, they showed very little tolerance and almost instantly reverted to seeking out an answer to their problem by creating the solution on their own, and how did they go about this? By making a false idol! So what did Moses do in the face of all of this? We know what the people did. The people made their little gold calf; God is angry, so angry that he is relinquishing his ownership of the people over to Moses and contemplating removing them from the picture and starting over again. And what did Moses do? He went back to his Lord in prayer, Moses prayer to his Lord because he knew in his heart of hearts that God was still in charge and that no matter what this God of Love that Moses served would never abandon his children, Moses knew that no matter what, God will always love us. In prayer Moses reminded God that the Hebrews were his people, that they were the people of the promise that was made between God and Abraham many years ago and that they, God and Abraham had made a covenant and that that covenant needed to be honored. You see friend, God doesn’t mind if we remind him of what his Word says to us. God doesn’t get mad when we tell him what he has promised us through his Word, when we give him a gentle reminder of his promise to us. That’s what pray is all about isn’t it? We have a need and we present that need to our Lord in the name of his Son Jesus. “Father you know I need shelter and food today, please provide it because your word tells me you will”. “Father you know I need protection today from my enemies, please provide that protection because your word tells me that you will hide me under your wings like a mother hen protects her children”. God doesn’t get upset if we remind him of what he has told us in his Word, the Bible. God may not always answer in a way that we would like to hear but he always answers just the same. When we pray God hears those prayers and answers them but at times we aren’t ready for what he says in his reply because he doesn’t always say yes. Why? Because when we are praying we only pray over what we can see or know about, our view of the situation is limited to our vision, our perception of the situation and our knowledge. And when God is responding he is seeing the big picture, he is seeing what is hidden from our view or range of understanding. (Isaiah 55: 8-11) “ "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it”. When we pray we need to do so in faith, we need to be praying knowing that the God of all Creation is there and hearing our prayers and even when he isn’t responding in a way that we desire or in what seems like the proper time frame God is responding and His will is going to be done, even if we don’t understand what that will is.

There are so many different situations or questions about what appears to be unanswered prayer that I couldn’t even begin to answer them but I do know that we as a people belonging to the Lord God Almighty have to remain in faith no matter what is happening in our life around us. We pray for a friend or family member who is in poor health and they die, is that unanswered prayer? Consider that maybe God did answer and his answer was to allow that person to gain entrance into God’s heaven. We look at death from our viewpoint; we love them and want them here with us. But are they better off here with us or in heaven? I have said many times to the people who were sitting under my teachings in the church, we spend more time trying to pray a person or a people out of heaven than we do trying to pray them into heaven. Death is inevitable, none of us will be able to avoid it, and from the Christian perspective although death is the end of life as we know it, it isn’t the end of life, it’s the beginning of new life on a spiritual plane, new life in glory with our God. Am I saying that we shouldn’t be praying for healing of the sick or injured? No I’m not, prayer should be an important part of every aspect of life and that includes matters of health. But I truly feel that we should be praying for the Lord’s will to be done in the life of the person or people we are praying for, and that of course includes ourselves. “Father, if it is your will I pray that you would place your healing hand on this dear sister”. “Father if it is your will I pray that you would bless the finances of the family that has just lost everything in a fire”. “Lord God Almighty, you know of the suffering of the people in that storm area, if it is your will please minister to them in a way that only you can do”. I think you can see where I am going with this line of thought. Praying in the will of the Father and then waiting upon God to move in response to that prayer.

Is there any problem in praying repetitively? Of course not, the Scriptures tell us of the persistent woman who requested healing for her child and even when rebuked by Jesus and placed in juxtapose with a dog she continued to plead her case until Jesus granted her request. We find this story in (Matthew 15:21-28) “Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession."
Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."
He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table." Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour”.

Again we see where perseverance is rewarded in the Scriptures in the Parable of the Unjust Judge as found in (Luke 18:1-8) also known as The Parable of the Persistent Widow “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'
"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "
And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Notice in the very first verse of (Luke 18) that it even says Jesus gave this parable so that his disciples would understand the principle of praying continually and not giving up.

I don’t think there is any negative question about our time tolerance when we offer prayer repeatedly unto our Lord. Repetitive prayer is the same as continuous prayer and continuous pray is encouraged in the Scriptures.
(1st Thessalonians 5:16-18) “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus”. Repetitive prayer is a show of continued faith, unbroken faith. Repetitive prayer shows a great time tolerance inasmuch as it says, “I’m still here Lord, I’m still praying to you and I’m still waiting for you to answer”. Repetitive prayer is not taking matters into our own hands like the Hebrews did in the wilderness and it’s not making a golden calf to look upon for an answer to our prayer. Repetitive prayer is hanging on in the windstorm when it appears that the entire world is shaking around us. Repetitive prayer is saying “Lord I’m willing to wait upon you because I know who you are and I know that you are going to answer my prayers. How you are going to answer I don’t know, but I have faith in you and I know that you will do what is best for me and in you I will not question”.

If we stop to think about it, just what is prayer? Prayer is an open line of communication between our God and us. Now change that thought just a bit and prayer is an open line of communication between our Heavenly Father and us. Now change that thought just a bit more and prayer is an open line of communication between a father and his children, God is our Father and we are his children. So prayer is just communication between two parties and who would try to set a limit on the words that were spoken between themselves and their children in a healthy relationship? Another way to look at this is to think of it as a marriage. Doesn’t the Word of God tell us that we will be the bride and God, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is going to be the bridegroom? So prayer is the same as communications between a bridegroom and his bride, two locked in love, communicating in the language of lovers.

Prayer doesn’t always have to be us asking something from God. Prayer is also just talking to God and listening to his response. In the premarital counsel I give to every couple prior to the wedding I stress over and over again the importance of communication between the two. That is equally important between our Lord and us. We need to have that open line of communication to have a healthy relationship between us. We need to be able to talk with our Heavenly Father and then listen to what he has to say to us and as previously stated, it isn’t always asking for something and waiting for it to arrive. It’s talking about the little things as well as the big things. It’s open communication and that communication will greatly affect the time tolerance we have in relation to our Lord.

And so in closing, what is your time tolerance when you are communicating with your God? The more time tolerance we have with our God the better the relationship. The healthier our time tolerance which includes listening time and allowing time for God to talk back to us is a good indication of how well our relationship with our God is. And subsequently the better our relationship with God the better our relationship is with those around us. A healthy relationship with God will always equate to a healthy relationship with God’s other children, even the ones that are not walking in the light yet. Our fuse will burn slower, the things that ignite us will be less and less and the explosions will be smaller or maybe even stop altogether.

When talking about a time tolerance and about God with both in the same line of thought we have to remember that it is us that needs to work on what our tolerance is because God has already shown us what his is. He has allowed us to flounder and fall so many times and he has never held it against us. That’s why he sent his Son into the world. Jesus has already paid the price for our shortcomings and sins. He did so out of love and it is also out of his love for us that he hasn’t returned to claim us as his bride yet. He is holding off his return allowing as many as possible to make the decision to follow him and avoid the consequences, the just consequences our actions merit but his love is shielding us from and that of course is eternity in hell. If you haven’t made that decision to follow Jesus there is still time to do so. All we need to do is to ask Jesus to come into our life, ask him for the forgiveness of our sins and mean it in our heart. It really is just that simple, there is no time tolerance to experience, once the plea is given the results are instantaneous and salvation is our forever. So now I have to ask you. How long is your time tolerance when it comes to salvation? If you haven’t asked for salvation yet just how long are you going to wait? That’s something to think about isn’t it?
Grace and peace