May 12th: What’s taking so long?

By: Brent Hodges

Scripture

“So he demanded, ‘Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!’  And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself.”  1 Samuel 13:9

Observation

Saul and his army are awaiting Samuel’s arrival at Gilgal in preparation for their battle with the Philistines.  As they wait, men begin losing their courage and fleeing from the impending battle.  Realizing this, Saul decides to take matters into his own and hands and offer the sacrifices instead of waiting for Samuel.  In doing so, Saul disobeys the command God gave him through Samuel resulting in the prophesied loss of his kingdom.

Application

Don’t we often take things into our own hands when we don’t feel like God is coming through when we expect Him to.  We find ourselves making excuses or figuring out how we can make this work now instead of awaiting God’s timing.  When we do this, we are in essence telling God that we don’t think He knows best for our lives…we’ve got it all under control and besides we need this now…not when He decides to allow it to unfold, or better yet if! 

Our disobedience will not allow us to see what God had in store for us.  Our choice may result in us missing out on so much more that God had planned.  God is capable of immeasurably more than we could ever imagine…why do we think we know best? 

Prayer

Lord, please forgive me for the times you have been testing my faith and I’ve taken the easy way out by refusing to wait for You.  Grant me discernment to know when You are commanding me to simply be still and have patience…for You may be about to do more than I could ever imagine!