Archives - June 2007, Part 3, from www.timewithgod.blog-city.com

timewithgod.blog-city.com — June 2007

1 Samuel 13-14 The Incredibly High Price We Pay For Our Impatience

we may not know fully until we get to heaven

Saul may have stood a head taller than the rest, but he had never ruled before, and it really showed in his rash actions.  He'd never learned what Tom Cruise's character "Maverick" did in the movie Top Gun:  "I will not leave my wingman!"  Saul waited for Samuel to arrive for seven days while the Philistine army was massing on the border with horsemen and chariots.  Each day, fewer and fewer soldiers were answering roll call, and Samuel wasn't arriving.  This led Saul to offer burnt offerings in Samuel's place, even though Saul was not a Levite.

Samuel arrived immediately thereafter and saw what Saul had done.  My commentary said, "What appeared to be a valid excuse did not change the fact that Saul had disobeyed God."

That goes for us as well today.  If God says it's wrong, then we cannot practice "situational ethics" to make it right -- period.

Something in Samuel's reply amazed me and probably stunned Saul -- Saul had just committed the sin, but God, in His sovereignty, had already made adjustments to the world as a result.  "The Lord has looked for the kind of man He wants.  He has appointed him to rule His people, because you haven't obeyed His command."  Unknown to anyone, young David was tending his father's sheep, blissfully unaware that God has already determined that he will lead the nation someday.  It would be quite awhile before even Samuel knew who the new ruler was to be!

Saul just continues to stumble and sin, mainly out of impatience, and he'll spend the rest of his rule trying vainly to hold onto a life that changed the instance he decided he couldn't wait any longer.  Impatience cost him terribly.  He had been mere minutes away from not sinning but just couldn't hold out.

Father, I know that You taught me a lot about waiting on You as I waited for my two boys.  Yet I find myself still struggling with impatience in little things that don't matter nearly as much.  Please give me victory over frustration, impatience, and feelings of being overwhelmed.  Help me to trust that You won't allow me to be tempted beyond what I can bear in Your strength.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Published: Friday, 29 June 2007