11 The LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the signs I have performed among them?
Even the Lord gets impatient with His people when we refuse to believe and obey. How long! You can hear the frustration in these words. He has demonstrated His power and mercy among them through the many miracles He performed. Day after day food was provided. And yet they still remain stubborn and unyielding. Sounds like our kids, doesn’t it! We can see it as parents. We know they are going to end up doing the whole chore, but they put up a fight anyway. They try to wiggle out of their clear cut job. And they throw an attitude in for good measure. Sometimes spouses throw attitudes with each other. Instead of saying what is really on their hearts, they talk about the dishes or the laundry. We say, “How long?” when we are trying to potty train. We say it with the toddler and the teenager. We say it in the middle of illness and when troubles come our way. We say it when the police stand at our door with our rebellious teenager in tow. We say it through a long deployment when days of loneliness never seem to end. We say it at work when stupid things seem to pile up. And yet, the Lord is saying it to us when we refuse to believe and act on that belief. “How long?”
The Arnold Journey 