The time of receiving the Torah is a time of turmoil and inner strife, despite the newly acquired spiritual and intellectual maturity.
Things are forced upon us—"God forced the Mount [of Sinai] over the people of Israel like a pail" (Shabbat 88a)—and we find it difficult to absorb all of this novelty, which, however close to the heart, is as yet foreign to the spirit.
Only after a lengthy period of digestion and adjustment does one attain a sense of inner integrity, wholeness, and peace.
It is then that one feels capable of harvesting the crops that have grown in the course of time, and of enjoying them in calm and happiness.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From "The First Step" in On Being Free by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz