When waiting feels impossible
So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering. Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. ~ 1 Samuel 13:9-10
Have you ever noticed that God sometimes seems to show up about thirty seconds after you’ve decided to take matters into your own hands? You pray, you wait, you trust, you wait some more, and then suddenly you become convinced that God must need a little help. Before long, you’re making plans, forcing doors open, and trying to solve the problem yourself. Then, just when you’ve stepped ahead of Him, His answer shows up.
That is exactly what happened to Saul. The Philistine army was gathering, his soldiers were afraid, and Samuel had not arrived yet. Saul felt pressure from every direction. Instead of continuing to wait on God’s instructions, he took matters into his own hands and offered the sacrifice himself. The problem was not that Saul wanted victory. The problem was that he stepped out of God’s plan because he was unwilling to trust God’s timing.
As God’s people today, we often face similar struggles. We pray for answers, but sometimes the waiting feels uncomfortable. We want God to move now, not next week, next month, or next year. Yet many of God’s greatest lessons are learned in the waiting room of faith.
Here are three important truths from this chapter that can help us when waiting seems hard.
1. Pressure Reveals What and Who We Trust
Saul’s circumstances didn’t create the problem, they revealed it. When everything was calm, Saul appeared confident. But when the pressure was on, his trust in God’s instructions weakened. The same thing happens to us. Pressure has a way of exposing where our confidence really is.
Pay attention to how you respond when challenges come up. When unexpected bills show up, do you immediately panic or do you bring the situation before God? When a relationship becomes difficult, do you seek God’s wisdom or react emotionally? Pressure doesn’t have to pull us away from God. It can become an opportunity to press in closer to Him.
2. God’s Timing Is Better Than Our Timing
The painful part of Saul’s story is that Samuel arrived almost immediately after Saul acted. If Saul had waited just a little longer, everything would have been different. Sometimes God’s timing feels slow because He sees the entire picture while we only see the immediate need.
Choose patience when you don’t understand the delay. For example, perhaps you’re waiting for a job opportunity, healing, financial breakthrough, or direction for an important decision. Instead of assuming God has forgotten you, trust that He is working behind the scenes.
In my life, God’s clock and my clock rarely agree. If I were in charge, every prayer would be answered by tomorrow morning. Thankfully, God is much wiser than I am.
3. Obedience Is More Important Than Immediate Results
Saul wanted a quick solution. God wanted obedience. Many times we focus so much on getting an answer that we forget the importance of following God’s direction along the way. God is often more concerned about who we are becoming than how quickly we arrive at the destination.
Focus on your next act of obedience rather than trying to control the outcome. If God has instructed you to forgive someone, continue forgiving. If He has called you to serve faithfully, keep serving. If He has told you to wait, trust Him enough to wait.
Obedience may not always feel exciting, but it always positions us to experience God’s best.
One of the things I appreciate about Scripture is that it shows us real people making real mistakes. Saul’s story reminds us that impatience can cause us to miss what God is trying to do. Thankfully, God’s Word gives us the opportunity to learn from Saul’s experience rather than repeat it.
I’ve had many times in my life where waiting felt harder than moving. In one particular situation, I became convinced that it was time to leave my place of employment and submitted my resignation. The interesting part was that just one day later, a new position opened up, one that I had been praying about and hoping for. Thankfully, I was given the opportunity to withdraw my resignation and step into that new role. Looking back, I can see how gracious God was in that situation. He helped me humble myself, slow down, and recognize His leading before I stepped completely outside of His plan. That experience showed me something valuable. What feels like a delay is not necessarily a denial. Most of the time, God is working behind the scenes in ways we cannot yet see. Looking back now, I realize those waiting periods were not wasted. God was teaching me to trust Him, strengthening my faith, and preparing me to grow stronger for the next step in His plan for my life. If He had answered every prayer the moment I asked, I would have missed some of the greatest preparation seasons He designed for me.
Today I want to encourage you to trust God even when the waiting feels uncomfortable. Don’t allow pressure, fear, or uncertainty to push you ahead of His timing. The God who sees the end from the beginning knows exactly what He is doing. Stay faithful, keep praying, and continue following the direction He has already given you. His timing is never late, His wisdom is never lacking, and His plans are always worth the wait. What feels delayed today may become one of the greatest testimonies of God’s faithfulness tomorrow.
Today’s scripture reading: 1 Samuel 13
1 Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,
2 Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent.
3 And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!”
4 Now all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal.
5 Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven.
6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits.
7 And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.
As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
8 Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.
9 So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering.
10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.
11 And Samuel said, “What have you done?”
Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash,
12 then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”
13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
15 Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people present with him, about six hundred men.
16 Saul, Jonathan his son, and the people present with them remained in Gibeah of Benjamin. But the Philistines encamped in Michmash.
17 Then raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned onto the road to Ophrah, to the land of Shual,
18 another company turned to the road to Beth Horon, and another company turned to the road of the border that overlooks the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.
19 Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears.”
20 But all the Israelites would go down to the Philistines to sharpen each man’s plowshare, his mattock, his ax, and his sickle;
21 and the charge for a sharpening was a pim for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to set the points of the goads.
22 So it came about, on the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son.
23 And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.
Journal:
- Is there an area of my life where I am struggling to wait on God’s timing?
- How do I typically respond when I feel pressure or uncertainty?
- What has God taught me during previous waiting seasons?
- Is there a specific instruction from God that I need to continue obeying while I wait?
- How can I actively trust God this week instead of trying to solve everything myself?
The Daily Dose 