Waiting On God Requires Faith. Waiting Is Not Easy But It Is Absolutely Necessary

(1 Samuel 13:7-14) “[King] Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering.  Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash,  I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”” 

Martie and I are about to start a respite – a sabbatical for a couple months.  We cannot start until we have finished the home we are working on.  The mission that God has given us.  At the moment, we are waiting for the final inspections to be completed.  There have been delays.  The date that I had planned to leave by has come and gone.  In the meantime, I have been trying to figure out a way that we might do both.  Oversee the inspections and leave for the time away.  Seemed reasonable. That is until the Lord brought the verses in 1 Samuel to my mind! 

The prophet Samuel had told King Saul what the Lord had said.  But Saul became impatient.  The time that Samuel was to return had come and gone.  His soldiers were getting restless. Things were not going the way that Saul had envisioned.  He had to do something.  So he did and suffered the consequences.  I once heard a comparison between King Saul and King David. Saul loved God with a half heart and David loved God with his whole heart. 

Saul had a half-hearted faith.  He would trust God some of the time – those times when things went Saul’s way.  But for the other times – he would trust himself.  That is where I found myself.  Things were not going my way so I had to do something.  Dr. Henry Blackaby said “You have heard the saying – “Don’t just stand there – do something”.  But God says “Don’t just do something – stand there.””  Trust God.  I am certain of what God wants me to do – but I must be willing to wait on Him. 

I suspect that many of you reading this, struggle with the same temptation.  Saul’s men were starting to scatter. How could he expect to prevail if his men scattered.  He did not remember Gideon who prevailed with 300 men 100 years before him.  He did not remember David standing before Goliath as Saul’s men quaked in fear.  We often think that we must do something or the outcome will not go our way.  We trust in what we see and not in God who we cannot see. That is because we have lost our spiritual vision. We love God half-heartedly.

Perhaps there is something going on in your life right now.  Something that you are unwilling to trust God for.  Something that God started but you feel compelled to finish and not wait on Him.  It takes faith in God to wait on God.  Just as I asked the Lord to strengthen my faith – I realize that He is using this very issue to do that very thing.   CHARLEY