Faith in Christ Sample

BE PATIENT. YOU WILL BE THE WINNER.

1 Samuel 13:1-22

"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." 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. 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." (1 Samuel 13:12-14)

Once at Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven around the mountains of Bethel in the land of Canaan, there were thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which was on the seashore in multitude.  The large Philistine armies made the Israelites feel distressed and made them run into hiding. King Saul and the people trembled greatly, but they still had to wait seven more days for the arrival of prophet Samuel in Gilgal.

The situation became difficult and increasingly tense as the people fled from Saul. Finally, Saul thought, "The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord." (1 Samuel 13:12a). And King Saul, like many of us who act on his thoughts, said, "Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me" (verse 9).

While Saul was offering sacrifices to God, the prophet Samuel appeared and rebuked Saul's actions. Saul, who had been in a hurry, said to Samuel, "Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering." (verse 12b). Because of Saul's impatience to wait for God's right time, the prophet Samuel said to him, "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." (1 Samuel 13:13).

Let us have patience just like King Jehoshaphat who said to the LORD, "Nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You." (2 Chronicles 20:12). Let's be patient and give God a chance to act for us as King Solomon once said, "He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city." (Proverbs 16:32). 

Reflection:

1. What will you do in your daily life, especially in difficult times? Do you repeatedly miss important moments in your life when you should have seen God's intervention?

2. Are we willing to learn from the rash actions of King Saul above?

Application:

Let the character of patience guide us.