While Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, the people made an idol in the form of a golden calf. Exodus 32:1-6. For 400 years, the Hebrews had lived in the land of Egypt. The Egyptians were polytheistic, meaning they worshiped many gods. Each God was represented by an animal. Anubis, God of the dead, had the head of a Jackal. Horus, protector of Pharaoh, had the head of a falcon. Thoth, God of wisdom, had the head of the Ibis. YHWH, God of the Hebrews, gave Moses the Second Commandment, “You shall not make yourself carved images. You shall not bow down to them or serve them.” (Exodus 20:4) The people grew impatient with Moses. While he was on the mountain, they were down in the valley taking matters into their own hands. They wanted a god they could see. Aaron, Moses’ brother, led them in the melting of the gold and supervised the creation of the Golden Calf. Then they offered sacrifices and prayers to their new god. Before we become too judgmental, don’t we do the same thing? We want God to answer our prayers how we want them to be answered, and we want them answered now. We become impatient with God and begin looking for alternative sources to help solve our problems. Instead of finding lasting solutions, we seem to find short-term solutions that lead to bigger problems. Morgan Miers was 84 years old when I met him. I was 30. He was affirming, loving, and positive. He was also a farmer. The lesson I learned from him was, “Trust the process.” He applied it to everything, including farming. One year he planted beans, and it was a big harvest which drove down the cost. He stored them in his grain bins instead of selling them for a loss. The next year, beans had a low yield, and the price went up. He sold all the beans in storage and made a huge profit. Being patient with the process gave him the advantage. He applied it to faith. When we pray to God, we must be trusting of God’s process. God will answer our prayers according to God’s will and timetable. Impatience leads to bigger problems. We not only give up on God, but we also figuratively turn to our Golden Calf, which is really no answer at all.

Prayer: Lord, we have received your Ten Commandments. Help us to trust you enough to follow your commandments. Forgive our impatience and restore our hope in you and your timing. Amen.