Update

In the Tree post, I talked about being able to see where God is leading, what He has promised to us, but not exactly knowing how to get there. Miss Anne Johns had another great point in the comments which I would encourage you to read. But, to sum it up, sometimes it just takes patience.

I had patience illustrated to me in another way today. I was speaking with a friend and they likened patience in tough situations to the patience the Israelites had to have when they were wandering in the desert for forty years. They knew God had promised them a land of milk and honey. After only a few year (or months even) they were most likely already pretty sorry for having doubted God. They certainly had learned the lesson, yet God made them wait forty years.

Part of the reason was so HE wouldn't be a liar. But the larger reason may have been because He wanted to teach them patience. And not only that, through the time of wandering, the time of patience, He wanted them to know they needed to be fully reliant on Him. They wouldn't survive without His manna and quail. He went before them as a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire to guide them. They would have been completely lost without Him.

Application:

Sometimes God has to remove the prize from your sight so you will focus on what is truly important. With the prize so close, it is easy to forget that God (and our relationship with Him) is the most wonderful thing we could ever have. It doesn't mean God won't deliver on His promises, it just means He is going to make sure we are in the right frame of mind to receive His gifts without loosing sight of the Greatest Gift.