Analyzing the Patient God

This is the first in a couple of postings where I want to look at a very difficult and broad topic.  Who is God?  First, I want to talk about the patient God.
I was riding with a friend of mine the other night listening to the "Prince of Egypt" soundtrack.  If you've never seen that movie, you obviously weren't born between 1985 and 1993, because I'm pretty sure every kid born in that range loved that movie.  It was an incredible movie, and the music for it is equally grand.  Either way, "The Prince of Egypt," is the story of Moses.  Moses was born to a family of Jews/Hebrews while they were still slaves in Egypt, so his mother placed Moses in a basket in the river, where he rolled his way on up to the Pharaoh's palace and became a member of his household.  Now this was all about 350-400 years into the Hebrew slavery.
About forty years later, Moses learns that he is the son of slaves and runs away, pretty much because he killed a man.  Forty years after that, Moses sees a burning bush on the mountainside that happens to be the voice of God calling him back to Egypt where he frees the Hebrew people (with a little help from plagues/God).
While His people were slaves in Egypt, a total of about 430 years, they called out for God to free them.  They called out for deliverance from their captors, especially when said captors began murdering young Hebrew boys to quell the population, thus preventing slave revolt.  They cried out for freedom.  After many years, God brings them a boy.  But this boy has to be raised.  He is raised in the house of Pharaoh where he learns what it takes to lead, all of these necessary skills he will one day call on to take his people out of Egypt.
Well Moses receives a forty year education in politics and leadership from the Egyptians, and then spends forty years as a shepherd out in the desert where he learns what it means to be the leader God wants him to be.  At this point, now, he is 80 years old, and God's people have been in slavery for over 400 years, every day calling out for rescue.
Then, God sends Moses into the game.  Moses goes in there and tells Pharaoh of God's wish to free the Hebrews.  Pharaoh, obviously, has no interest in giving in.  After ten plagues, the worst being death to all the first born males of Egypt, Pharaoh finally gives in and lets His people go.
Now let's look a little bit at the waiting game here.  First, the people cry out for about 350 or more years for freedom.  Then, God gives them a leader.  However, this leader is still a baby, so he gives them another 80 years for this baby to grow up.  So 430 years later, God is ready to set them free.  Why did he wait so long? Was he ignoring their cries?  Was he ignoring their needs?
In 430 years, the Hebrew people grew from a small tribe to a burgeoning civilization.  In 430 years, they became a nation from a meager population.  The Hebrew people needed that time in captivity to become large enough to claim the land that God had promised them.  Then, what about Moses?  What about the time he was spent developing?  As I've already alluded to, he spent eighty years learning how to lead, forty under Pharaoh's people and forty as a shepherd in the desert.  This was time that God used to develop Moses into the leader He could use.  When the time came for Moses to act, God came upon him as the bush.  That we will get into another day, because it is one of my absolute FAVORITE passages in all of scripture.
But what about the ten plagues?  What purpose was there in hardening Pharaoh's heart?  Why not let them go after the first plague, or when Moses came forward with a request from God?  By working in this way, God was able to once again show His people what He was capable of.  If Pharaoh had not chased them into the desert, think of all the wonders they would have missed out on?  There would have been no pillar of fire, no need to part the sea, none of it.  It would've been a leisurely stroll out of captivity for them.  Instead, God used the stubborn heart of Pharaoh to create an opportunity to show His people just what might and power was on their side and what strength He was willing to display to protect them and guide them into the difficult journey ahead.
I say all of this to bring up one point.  As we look at each of our lives, wondering what plan or purpose God could possibly have for any of us, we must remember that He is a patient God who will wait for the perfect opportunity to display His glory, His power, and our need for Him.  He knows when His plan will work best. He knows this, and we have to wait for it.  If we are willing to wait on a patient God, we will receive the rewards that He wishes to confer upon us.  I will graduate from UGA on Saturday, and I really struggle with this.  For what purpose has God brought me here?  For what purpose has He saved me, and for what purpose has He allowed me to experience these four years?  For what?  And the answer is simply...I don't know.  But I can't wait to find out in His time.  If my God can be patient with His perfect plans, then I must be patient in waiting to see how His perfect plan comes to fruition and how it will radically alter and improve my life.
For instance, think of this.  Why did God wait so long to send a savior?  Why not just send Jesus immediately when man sinned?  Why not immediately enact the plan for salvation?  I once heard it said that Jesus came at the perfect time for three reasons.  I forgot the third, but the first two are simple.  God waited until then so that He could take full advantage of the wisdom and law brought on by the Greeks, and then the empire and the influence brought on by the Romans.  The Kingdom of Christ was established at the time when it would best spread throughout the world.
We must remember that God waits for the perfect time.  And why is that?  God could just create things to be a certain way, but he doesn't.  He acts precisely how He wishes and plans to.  There are two key reasons for that, one being that He is patient.  The other, and this is what I want to look at next time, is because He is practical.

PS.  I know, I know, this isn't fiction, the whole reason I started this blog.  I'm getting there.  I'm very close to finishing a short that I've been working on for a while.  It WILL be done soon.  I promise.  And when it is, you'll see it here first.  For now...GOODNIGHT!

Adam W.
Phil. 3:12-14