Minding Your Ps: Pet Peeves, Patience, and Promises
For years one of my pet peeves occurred when my husband would come into the kitchen while I was cooking dinner and try to rush or take over the process. Notice, I didn't say help with the process! However, after fifteen years, its become more of a joke. He works so hard that he often puts off eating until he feels like he's starving and then even a ten minute wait before dinner is just too long. But not even he would decide to pop a Hungry Man turkey dinner in the microwave if he knew a true feast was just a short wait away. No way!
When it comes to spiritual matters, however, how many of us find ourselves invading the kitchen, sneaking snacks, rushing the process, or even taking over the job and trying to finish it up ourselves? We smell the tantalizing aroma of our promise, see the nearly-finished result through the oven door, and instead of sitting down to the table and offering our thanks while we patiently wait, we decide to take things into our own hands. The result is much like grabbing a turkey from the oven without pot holders - we burn ourselves and make a huge mess. While God may salvage the mess, our impatience keeps the promise from turning out like it was first intended to.
Often our trusting patience is all that is required of us before we feast upon the promises of God. In 1st Samuel 13:13-14, Samuel said to King Saul, "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" (NIV). What was Saul's mistake? He grew tired of waiting and took matters into his own hands.
Now granted, he had his reasons. First, he was scared of the Philistine army coming against him which was "as numerous as the sand on the seashore" (vs. 5). He wasn't the only one frightened. His soldiers were hiding themselves, quaking with fear, and beginning to scatter. Saul wanted to reassure them while there were still soldiers there to reassure. Samuel was running behind. Saul was the king. He likely reasoned, Who better to take the spiritual lead and remind the people that they had the God of Israel on their side?
So Saul "offered up the burnt offering" (vs. 9). Just as he finished, Samuel arrived. Samuel, the one who God had said was to perform the offering. The one Saul had been told to wait on. The one who truly had the personal connection with God and the position of leading the Israelite people in spiritual matters. Saul had reasoned himself right into a role that God had not bestowed upon him and the results were devastating.
Although Saul still ruled as king for 42 years, for most of his reign God was not with him. He was tormented by an evil spirit, tormented by the Philistine armies, tormented by having the constant reminder that God's favor now rested upon David, the young shepherd who had gained the promise of everything Saul had thrown away with one act of impatience. Seem unfair? Couldn't God have salvaged this single impulsive decision?
Seems like a logical conclusion, until we realize that this one act betrays the condition of Saul's heart. It wasn't just that Saul was impatient, but that in his heart he justified doing things his way rather than God's way. He'd placed more faith in his own human ability than in God's sovereign ways.
Saul could have repented, but instead he kept trying to do everything on his own. Instead of following God's orders with the Amalekites, he destroyed only the weak and unwanted, concluding it would be best to preserve that which seemed desirable. Later, he determined to kill David and thus destroy the threat to his kingdom rather than trusting God's predestination. In his final battle, he resorted to witchcraft rather than seeking the face of God, and, ultimately, even took his own life rather than placing it in God's hands. Again and again Saul insisted on doing things his own way when he should have said as Moses did, "God, if you aren't going with me, then don't send me!"(Exodus 33:15).
So how was David any different, you may ask? After all, there was that indiscretion with Bathsheba, was there not? I'd definitely call that an impulsive decision, taking on a role God hadn't given him. But before we go there, let's look at what David did right.
David's trip to the throne wasn't an easy one. God's promise came many years before its fulfillment. Though God's favor was continually upon David, he still experienced some of the highest highs, and the lowest lows, just like we all do. Yes, his trip to the throne was quite a trip!
Can you just imagine his older brothers speaking to David, "You think you, a little shepherd boy, can take on the giant Goliath? Boy, you trippin'!"
Or Saul, "You think earning my daughter's hand in marriage, or the friendship of my son, puts you in line for the throne? Boy - I don't care how many Philistines you've killed - you trippin'!"
At times it probably felt like God Himself had turned against David. I can almost hear his prayer, "God, you told me I would be king. You moved me right into the king's family, giving me Saul's own daughter as my wife, his son as my best friend. You've made me well known as a warrior in Israel. I was right there God! Right where I thought you wanted me. And now? Now I don't know if I'll ever see my wife again. I've lost my best friend. Saul's trying to kill me. I'm on the run with nothing and no one alongside me. What did I miss God? Where did I go wrong?"
We've all been there, haven't we? We've all prayed a similar prayer to those last three sentences. We've all been disillusioned by events God allowed in our lives, times we thought we knew what He was doing and then suddenly, without any warning, things changed. We thought we were just beginning to grasp God's promises, and then it all fell apart.
What will we do with those disappointments? That is the question on God's heart. Will we trust him even when we can't see what He's doing in our darkest moments? David did. He wrote "If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you" (Psalm 139:11-12). David had as much reason as any of us to give in to fear and depression, yet he recognized that God could see what he could not. He trusted God to come through on His Word.
Still, sometimes trusting God when you can't see your way ahead is actually easier than when you can, and requires an even greater spiritual maturity. There is perhaps nothing more tempting than to see what God has promised you, hanging right there before your eyes, looking ripe for the taking. Something so good, so rich, so pleasing, so desirable - so perfectly designed for you - and yet choosing to stay your hand because its not exactly what God has promised. That takes strength. It takes wisdom to recognize that no matter how perfect it looks, if it is not yours, if God has not picked that promise and personally handed it to you, its nothing more than an illusion. Nothing more than Satan dangling that forbidden fruit in front of your eyes, tempting you in that voice so easy on the ears, "But didn't God say...?"
Sometimes that voice sounds like your own. Sometimes it comes from friends or even mentors. That's why its crucial that we learn to recognize the difference between the voice of God's Spirit and all the others that call out to you.
David experienced this while hiding in the caves in the Desert of En Gedi. That's the way it often works. You feel like you are in your own desert. Its hot, dry, uncomfortable. Your thirst for something is so great, your needs unmet for so long, and there's this nagging thought playing like "The Song That Never Ends" through your mind, "God, don't I deserve better than this? I've done everything you asked. What's taking so long? I can't take this any longer." Then, suddenly, its there! Smack dab in the middle of your desert. Your promise, ripe for the taking! Your mirage.
Saul walks right into the cave where David is hiding and decides to rest there for the night. What are the odds!?! Saul comes to hunt down David and kill him and God delivers him into David's hands. At least that's what David's men suggest, "This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, 'I will give your enemies into your hands for you to deal with as you wish" (1 Samuel 24:4).
And David wants to take their advice. He goes forward with his sword, telling himself:
He deserves it after all he's done to me, all the ways he's used me.
Finally, I can go home to my wife where I would have been all this time if not for this man.
God took the kingdom from him years ago and promised it to me.
Now God's finally giving me the kingdom and all I have to do is kill King Saul while he sleeps...
But over all these voices in his head, David hears something that stays his hand. Perhaps it is the realization that it all seems too easy. Murdering Saul in his sleep, after all, does seem like a cowardly way to assume the kingship, and David's no coward. Or, perhaps its that last phrase his men uttered, "for you to deal with as you wish," that keeps nagging at him. You know, no matter how hard I searched, I couldn't find that last phrase anywhere else in Scripture. God often promised to give the enemy into the hands of his people, but He also usually had instructions for how they were to deal with them.
Herein lies a solid truth: Satan always twists God's words. Perhaps this was the clue that prevented David from taking hold of the temptation that looked so similar to everything God had promised so many years before. His conscience and his wisdom overcame his temptation, and David responded, "The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord" (vs. 6).
As right as it felt, it just didn't feel right. God wasn't in it, and if God isn't in it, its only an illusion of your promise.
David had won this inner conflict and smoothed things over with Saul in so doing. Now it would be easy going from here, right? Wrong. David was no closer to the throne than he'd been before. He couldn't trust Saul not to turn on him again. He couldn't go home; his wife had been given to another man. He had to live with the consequences of his decision in yet another wilderness, the Desert of Ziph. Here, he had plenty of time for second thoughts. Had he made the right choice? What if God really had been delivering Saul into his hand? What if he wasn't really even hearing from God at all?
Time for another attack, another temptation. This time with yet another twist. Again Saul began hunting David, and this time, when Saul went to sleep right beside David's hideout, David went down to him with only one man. This soldier, like the previous time, reminded David of God's promise, but then went a step further and offered to take Saul's life himself.
How much easier! David didn't have to set an example in front of all his men. He didn't even have to raise his own hand against the Lord's anointed. He had someone who would do it for him. Talk about temptation! His obstacle to the throne - to all that God had promised him - could be removed. He could take his rightful place and the guilt wouldn't even be on his own head.
Or would it?
You see, that's the thing about God's promises. They're not supposed to be something you can obtain for yourself. They're not even supposed to be something others can do for you. Your promise is something so BIG - and so incredible - that only God can do it!
David recognized this. He waited patiently upon the Lord and he received the fulfillment of God's promise. He received what Saul did not. God Himself set up David's throne and, through his linage, brought the promised Messiah who reigns forever, Jesus Christ.
While King David later succumbed to temptation and had to face the consequences, God did salvage David's mistake. Unlike Saul, David humbled himself and repented of his sin. He sought God's will and accepted God's correction. This, too, is an example we can learn from. If we have already been guilty of trying to hurry along our promise, or of assuming a role that God has not yet bestowed upon us, there is hope. Our God is a gracious God who "opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble" (James 4:6).
Likewise, for those who have waited patiently in faith, but have not yet seen the fulfillment of their promise, THERE IS HOPE. No matter how dry the desert you are in, no matter how long the wait, don't settle for the illusion. "The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29). Until your promise is realized, stay out of the kitchen! Give thanks and let God finish His perfect work. Feasting on His perfect promises will be well worth it in the end.
When it comes to spiritual matters, however, how many of us find ourselves invading the kitchen, sneaking snacks, rushing the process, or even taking over the job and trying to finish it up ourselves? We smell the tantalizing aroma of our promise, see the nearly-finished result through the oven door, and instead of sitting down to the table and offering our thanks while we patiently wait, we decide to take things into our own hands. The result is much like grabbing a turkey from the oven without pot holders - we burn ourselves and make a huge mess. While God may salvage the mess, our impatience keeps the promise from turning out like it was first intended to.
Often our trusting patience is all that is required of us before we feast upon the promises of God. In 1st Samuel 13:13-14, Samuel said to King Saul, "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" (NIV). What was Saul's mistake? He grew tired of waiting and took matters into his own hands.
Now granted, he had his reasons. First, he was scared of the Philistine army coming against him which was "as numerous as the sand on the seashore" (vs. 5). He wasn't the only one frightened. His soldiers were hiding themselves, quaking with fear, and beginning to scatter. Saul wanted to reassure them while there were still soldiers there to reassure. Samuel was running behind. Saul was the king. He likely reasoned, Who better to take the spiritual lead and remind the people that they had the God of Israel on their side?
So Saul "offered up the burnt offering" (vs. 9). Just as he finished, Samuel arrived. Samuel, the one who God had said was to perform the offering. The one Saul had been told to wait on. The one who truly had the personal connection with God and the position of leading the Israelite people in spiritual matters. Saul had reasoned himself right into a role that God had not bestowed upon him and the results were devastating.
Although Saul still ruled as king for 42 years, for most of his reign God was not with him. He was tormented by an evil spirit, tormented by the Philistine armies, tormented by having the constant reminder that God's favor now rested upon David, the young shepherd who had gained the promise of everything Saul had thrown away with one act of impatience. Seem unfair? Couldn't God have salvaged this single impulsive decision?
Seems like a logical conclusion, until we realize that this one act betrays the condition of Saul's heart. It wasn't just that Saul was impatient, but that in his heart he justified doing things his way rather than God's way. He'd placed more faith in his own human ability than in God's sovereign ways.
Saul could have repented, but instead he kept trying to do everything on his own. Instead of following God's orders with the Amalekites, he destroyed only the weak and unwanted, concluding it would be best to preserve that which seemed desirable. Later, he determined to kill David and thus destroy the threat to his kingdom rather than trusting God's predestination. In his final battle, he resorted to witchcraft rather than seeking the face of God, and, ultimately, even took his own life rather than placing it in God's hands. Again and again Saul insisted on doing things his own way when he should have said as Moses did, "God, if you aren't going with me, then don't send me!"(Exodus 33:15).
So how was David any different, you may ask? After all, there was that indiscretion with Bathsheba, was there not? I'd definitely call that an impulsive decision, taking on a role God hadn't given him. But before we go there, let's look at what David did right.
David's trip to the throne wasn't an easy one. God's promise came many years before its fulfillment. Though God's favor was continually upon David, he still experienced some of the highest highs, and the lowest lows, just like we all do. Yes, his trip to the throne was quite a trip!
Can you just imagine his older brothers speaking to David, "You think you, a little shepherd boy, can take on the giant Goliath? Boy, you trippin'!"
Or Saul, "You think earning my daughter's hand in marriage, or the friendship of my son, puts you in line for the throne? Boy - I don't care how many Philistines you've killed - you trippin'!"
At times it probably felt like God Himself had turned against David. I can almost hear his prayer, "God, you told me I would be king. You moved me right into the king's family, giving me Saul's own daughter as my wife, his son as my best friend. You've made me well known as a warrior in Israel. I was right there God! Right where I thought you wanted me. And now? Now I don't know if I'll ever see my wife again. I've lost my best friend. Saul's trying to kill me. I'm on the run with nothing and no one alongside me. What did I miss God? Where did I go wrong?"
We've all been there, haven't we? We've all prayed a similar prayer to those last three sentences. We've all been disillusioned by events God allowed in our lives, times we thought we knew what He was doing and then suddenly, without any warning, things changed. We thought we were just beginning to grasp God's promises, and then it all fell apart.
What will we do with those disappointments? That is the question on God's heart. Will we trust him even when we can't see what He's doing in our darkest moments? David did. He wrote "If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you" (Psalm 139:11-12). David had as much reason as any of us to give in to fear and depression, yet he recognized that God could see what he could not. He trusted God to come through on His Word.
Still, sometimes trusting God when you can't see your way ahead is actually easier than when you can, and requires an even greater spiritual maturity. There is perhaps nothing more tempting than to see what God has promised you, hanging right there before your eyes, looking ripe for the taking. Something so good, so rich, so pleasing, so desirable - so perfectly designed for you - and yet choosing to stay your hand because its not exactly what God has promised. That takes strength. It takes wisdom to recognize that no matter how perfect it looks, if it is not yours, if God has not picked that promise and personally handed it to you, its nothing more than an illusion. Nothing more than Satan dangling that forbidden fruit in front of your eyes, tempting you in that voice so easy on the ears, "But didn't God say...?"
Sometimes that voice sounds like your own. Sometimes it comes from friends or even mentors. That's why its crucial that we learn to recognize the difference between the voice of God's Spirit and all the others that call out to you.
David experienced this while hiding in the caves in the Desert of En Gedi. That's the way it often works. You feel like you are in your own desert. Its hot, dry, uncomfortable. Your thirst for something is so great, your needs unmet for so long, and there's this nagging thought playing like "The Song That Never Ends" through your mind, "God, don't I deserve better than this? I've done everything you asked. What's taking so long? I can't take this any longer." Then, suddenly, its there! Smack dab in the middle of your desert. Your promise, ripe for the taking! Your mirage.
Saul walks right into the cave where David is hiding and decides to rest there for the night. What are the odds!?! Saul comes to hunt down David and kill him and God delivers him into David's hands. At least that's what David's men suggest, "This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, 'I will give your enemies into your hands for you to deal with as you wish" (1 Samuel 24:4).
And David wants to take their advice. He goes forward with his sword, telling himself:
He deserves it after all he's done to me, all the ways he's used me.
Finally, I can go home to my wife where I would have been all this time if not for this man.
God took the kingdom from him years ago and promised it to me.
Now God's finally giving me the kingdom and all I have to do is kill King Saul while he sleeps...
But over all these voices in his head, David hears something that stays his hand. Perhaps it is the realization that it all seems too easy. Murdering Saul in his sleep, after all, does seem like a cowardly way to assume the kingship, and David's no coward. Or, perhaps its that last phrase his men uttered, "for you to deal with as you wish," that keeps nagging at him. You know, no matter how hard I searched, I couldn't find that last phrase anywhere else in Scripture. God often promised to give the enemy into the hands of his people, but He also usually had instructions for how they were to deal with them.
Herein lies a solid truth: Satan always twists God's words. Perhaps this was the clue that prevented David from taking hold of the temptation that looked so similar to everything God had promised so many years before. His conscience and his wisdom overcame his temptation, and David responded, "The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord" (vs. 6).
As right as it felt, it just didn't feel right. God wasn't in it, and if God isn't in it, its only an illusion of your promise.
David had won this inner conflict and smoothed things over with Saul in so doing. Now it would be easy going from here, right? Wrong. David was no closer to the throne than he'd been before. He couldn't trust Saul not to turn on him again. He couldn't go home; his wife had been given to another man. He had to live with the consequences of his decision in yet another wilderness, the Desert of Ziph. Here, he had plenty of time for second thoughts. Had he made the right choice? What if God really had been delivering Saul into his hand? What if he wasn't really even hearing from God at all?
Time for another attack, another temptation. This time with yet another twist. Again Saul began hunting David, and this time, when Saul went to sleep right beside David's hideout, David went down to him with only one man. This soldier, like the previous time, reminded David of God's promise, but then went a step further and offered to take Saul's life himself.
How much easier! David didn't have to set an example in front of all his men. He didn't even have to raise his own hand against the Lord's anointed. He had someone who would do it for him. Talk about temptation! His obstacle to the throne - to all that God had promised him - could be removed. He could take his rightful place and the guilt wouldn't even be on his own head.
Or would it?
You see, that's the thing about God's promises. They're not supposed to be something you can obtain for yourself. They're not even supposed to be something others can do for you. Your promise is something so BIG - and so incredible - that only God can do it!
David recognized this. He waited patiently upon the Lord and he received the fulfillment of God's promise. He received what Saul did not. God Himself set up David's throne and, through his linage, brought the promised Messiah who reigns forever, Jesus Christ.
While King David later succumbed to temptation and had to face the consequences, God did salvage David's mistake. Unlike Saul, David humbled himself and repented of his sin. He sought God's will and accepted God's correction. This, too, is an example we can learn from. If we have already been guilty of trying to hurry along our promise, or of assuming a role that God has not yet bestowed upon us, there is hope. Our God is a gracious God who "opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble" (James 4:6).
Likewise, for those who have waited patiently in faith, but have not yet seen the fulfillment of their promise, THERE IS HOPE. No matter how dry the desert you are in, no matter how long the wait, don't settle for the illusion. "The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29). Until your promise is realized, stay out of the kitchen! Give thanks and let God finish His perfect work. Feasting on His perfect promises will be well worth it in the end.
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