THERE IS A PRICE TO PAY WHEN YOU REFUSE TO WAIT

Have you ever found yourself in a position where you get tired of waiting on God?  C’mon you know what I mean, years have gone by and God still hasn’t done what you need Him to do for you, so in your impatience you take matters into your own hands all the while knowing in the back of your mind that this isn’t exactly the best way to approach the issue.

I’m sure we’ve all been here a time or two but let me tell you this is dangerous territory to tread upon.  When we find ourselves getting tired of the wait we are on the verge of opening up one mean can of worms.  The scriptures provide one of the best examples of the dangers of failing to wait on God.  It can be found in 1 Samuel chapter 13.

In this passage we are told of the tragic results of King Saul’s failure to wait on the Lord.  King Saul had been told by the prophet Samuel to wait seven days for his arrival.  At the end of seven days Samuel would offer a burnt offering to God to seek God’s blessing for the Israelites to enter into battle with the Philistines.  Unfortunately during the wait Saul watched the Israelites start to scatter and he became nervous as he realized that the Philistines were beginning to gather.  In his mind he knew he should wait on the prophet Samuel but the current circumstances made the wait seem unbearable.  So in an effort to maintain as much of his army as he could and to relieve his own anxiety, he went against the will of God and offered the sacrifices himself.  Yikes!

Mere seconds after he had finished offering the sacrifices Samuel arrived with a message from the Lord.  Immediately Saul was forced to face the consequences of his distrust and failure to wait upon God.  Saul was no longer favored in the eyes of God and another who was more worthy than he would be chosen.  His kingdom was no longer established and his sons would no longer rule in his place.  In a moment his destiny had changed simply because of his inability to wait.

As sad as this account of Saul’s life is, if we’re honest with ourselves we often do the exact same thing.   When we are single we get tired of waiting on God’s choice and we settle for our own.  When we have big decisions to make in life we get antsy waiting on God’s clear guidance and make our own decisions.  When we are waiting for specific doors to open as a sign that we should move forward but they never do we choose to open other doors that are clearly less than ideal and we do all of this because waiting isn’t easy.

Yet, I’d like to submit to you today that although waiting isn’t easy, jumping ahead of God is even worse.  Just ask Saul.

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