We seem to have a theme of waiting going on here lately…Samuel gave Saul clear instructions…wait for me. As a representative of God, what he was saying was in a sense, “wait for God”. But Saul became impatient. I know how he felt. I hate to wait. But often God makes us wait for many things, for many reasons. Maybe we need to be fully prepared to receive something. Maybe he is growing our faith. Maybe he has something better in mind and is working it out in the back ground. Regardless of the reason, most of us hate to wait.
But Saul committed the classic mistake that we’ve all made. He took matters into his own hands. Maybe you’ve done the same when God hasn’t provided for you exactly what you wanted when you wanted it. For Saul, the results were devastating. His kingdom would not endure. For us, often when we take matters into our own hands, the results are miserable as well. When we talk about taking matters into our own hands, it means we are operating outside of the will of God. It doesn’t mean sitting around waiting for God to drop xyz (insert desire here) into your lap. This is a perfect example of what DL was talking about in his blog comment yesterday. If your desire is to married, you can’t sit at home every night and wait for God to drop your mate off on your doorstep with a big red bow and a gift tag. On the other hand, you don’t want to be out there lookin for love in all the wrong places either. Basically, you strive to live your life in a godly way and God will put whatever blessing it is that you are waiting for in your path. Reminds me of that song…”I will serve you while I’m waiting…”. Recently, one of my friends said she that wanted to be a missionary in Honduras and someone said “you ain’t gonna find a husband there”. My answer to that is …serve God wherever he calls you and he will provide for you – her husband is probably in Honduras there waiting for her and wondering why she’s not there yet.
But the part about Saul’s story that really bothered me was Saul’s response when Samuel told him that his kingdom would not endure. At this time, we see no repentant heart, no distress, no weeping, no remorse at all. Samuel leaves and Saul starts counting up his 600 men. To me, this shows Saul’s true heart. He doesn’t believe that God is who he says he is and that he does what he says he will do. He doesn’t believe in God’s promises and He is not a man after God’s own heart.
We see a direct contrast in Jonathan. Saul was content in settling with the status quo. He didn’t want to stir things up with the Philistines, even though the Israelites were promised over and over again by God that He would deliver their enemies into their hands if they walked in faith and obedience. Saul only went into battle because Jonathan had forced him to defend the kingdom. Jonathan, on the other hand was ready to make things happen – within the will of God. The test he devised in going up against the Philistines was not to determine if God could deliver them, but if it was God’s will to deliver them at that time.
Isaiah 30:18 says, “Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” Ask God to show you how to rest in the knowledge that God desires to bless you and that He is a God of justice. Take comfort in the knowledge that you are blessed when you long for God to fulfill the desires of your heart in His perfect time and in within His perfect will.
Feel free to share any experiences you’ve where you’ve operated either inside or outside of the will of God and what the results were.
Today's blog submitted by Kelly Coxe
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