This last week we looked at when God’s word states that He will do something, He will surely do it. God said to Abraham, Genesis 22:17 “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.” After Israel rebelled in the desert, Joshua after 40 years led the people to take the land of promise. God said, Joshua 1:5 “No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.” God had warned them Deuteronomy 4:23 “Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. 25 After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, 26 I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. 27 The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you.” God said, Isaiah 1:9 “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land; 20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Israel and Judah refused to listen, even though they were told over and over again, to obey. God said, Jeremiah 7:23 “I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you. 24 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. 25 From the time your ancestors left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. 26 But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their ancestors.’ 27 “When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. 28 Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips.”
That was just a quick summary of the defeat and destruction of Israel and Judah which was all because of disobedience and rebellion against God’s word even though God told king Solomon, 2 Chronicles 7:16 “I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” But God also told Solomon what would happen if they were faithful and what would happen if they disobeyed. 17 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.’ 19 “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 22 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’” The first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians and then the second temple was destroyed by the Romans and all because of rebellion against God’s word. Everything that God said would happen, took place from taking the land to the land, being desolate and their eventual return. 1 Corinthians 10:6 “Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. 12 So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!”
Now we have the third temple, the body of Christ, and no building because Acts 17:24 “the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything.” Ephesians 2:19 “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” The word of God that He commanded Israel and Judah to obey, still applies to the church, but like Israel and Judah, the church has rebelled, and the third temple has been destroyed by the abomination that causes desolation but not completely because of God’s promise to David. When God says He will, He means it whether to pour out blessing or wrath. Not only is God loving but He is also a jealous and avenging God.
This week we are going to talk about when God says to do something, He means it. Our focus will be on waiting on God. One definition of the word wait is “the time it takes for something to happen.” Another definition of wait is “a period of time when you stay in one place until someone comes, or something happens, or until you can do something.” Time is vague in the definition. How much time depends on the situation. When talking about waiting, to wait involves time going past and that creates a problem because waiting can be hard, and most people really do not like to wait. Everything we do is time based, especially when it comes to waiting. Your car is in the shop for a month, or you are in a cast for 2-3 months, it is all based on time. Now obviously we are not talking about waiting for food at a restaurant or waiting for a 15 second commercial to end, but waiting on God. The something to happen part of the definition all depends on God’s plan, His ways and His timing. Isaiah said Isaiah 55:6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” God is eternal, we are not, and our time is limited, so make the best of it. He then said, 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.” Hosea 14:9 “Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.” King Nebuchadnezzar came to the understanding that Daniel 4:34 “His (God’s) dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” Don’t tell God which way to go, go where He says to go. Don’t tell God when to stay and how long, when He says to stay, stay. Numbers 9:15 “On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. 16 That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. 17 Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. 18 At the Lord’s command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. 19 When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord’s order and did not set out. 20 Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord’s command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. 21 Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. 22 Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. 23 At the Lord’s command they encamped, and at the Lord’s command they set out. They obeyed the Lord’s order, in accordance with his command through Moses.” That is how we wait on God.
God created the seven-day week and a 24-hour day, and that has never changed. We know this because God has a covenant with the day and night that cannot be broken, that is until He decides when the end will be. When we are talking about time, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and years, we humans are bound by time, but God is not. The physical world is not like the spiritual world when it comes to time. God is eternal and man is not, but all that changes when God dwells among us. Psalm 93:2 “Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity.” As king Nebuchadnezzar said, “His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation.” Psalm 90:2 “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 3 You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” 4 A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” Peter said, 2 Peter 3:8 “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”
God is not effected by time. When we think about how fast or slow a week went by, God doesn’t view it that way. And yes, there are hours and days that feel like an eternity. I have talked a lot about the desolate church and how for over two thousand years the church has been rebelling against God and following a different Jesus and other gospels. As each century went by, the church continued and continues to get further from the truth. The other day we looked at John 14:12 and doing as Jesus did. When you talk about this verse, it is amazing how fast people will respond with - in all the time that has gone by have you ever seen that kind of power? So, they write off the bible because two-thousand years have gone by or they write off the bible because they have never seen nor experienced the kind of power scripture tells us we should have in the church. I quoted a writer who gave this pathetic reasoning. The writer said, “The testimony of church history suggests it was not, as many generations of saints have come and gone without any evidence of apostolic power. And while charismatics will argue that there is evidence of miracles today, it’s always anecdotal, rarely documented or objectively substantiated, and often comes from the far-flung corners of the globe. Even by that flawed standard, the Spirit’s supposed miraculous work today is significantly different than His ministry through the apostles in the first-century church. Far from healing the crippled, curing the ravages of disease, and raising the dead, it seems the focus of the Holy Spirit’s healing ministry today is limited to rheumatoid arthritis, nagging back pain, and other subjective ailments. No longer is His work dramatic, obvious, and undeniable—today it’s mysterious, indiscriminate, and surprisingly absent when and where it’s most needed.” The writer basically said we need what Jesus used to do and because we haven’t seen it, it is not possible for today and therefore basically states out loud that he refuses to believe based on traditions, experience and reason. You could add the church is - far from healing the crippled, curing the ravages of disease, and raising the dead.” Such a pathetic statement. That is rebellion against God’s word, not against charismatics.
I share this because even though two thousand years have gone by, it is only a couple of days from God’s perspective. Man’s perspective as the quote above shows, is two-thousand years, that is a long time! God can wait but man doesn’t seem to be able to. Peter said, 2 Peter 3:3 “Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Yes, God will keep His promise. So, for two-thousand years God has been patient, yet the church still has not responded by turning from their wicked ways. Isaiah 65:2 “All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations— 3 a people who continually provoke me to my very face. 11 “But as for you who forsake the Lord and forget my holy mountain, who spread a table for fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for destiny, 12 I will destine you for the sword, and all of you will fall in the slaughter; for I called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen. You did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me.” Isaiah 66:2 “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word.” Then the opposite is described. 3 “They have chosen their own ways, and they delight in their abominations; 4 so I also will choose harsh treatment for them and will bring on them what they dread. For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened. They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me.” Zechariah 7:11 “They refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. 12 They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry. 13 “‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the Lord Almighty. 14 ‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’”
Waiting on God is not about our timing but His. It is not about how long it is taking; waiting on God is about God’s perfect timing for His plan and us trusting His timing. God has made it clear, when He says He will, He will! Yesterday we talked about God saying surely. Hosea 6:3 “Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” Jeremiah 30:10 “‘So do not be afraid, Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, Israel,’ declares the Lord. ‘I will surely save you out of a distant place, your descendants from the land of their exile. 11 I am with you and will save you,’ declares the Lord.” The same applies to when God says to wait, He means wait. The last portion of the second definition of waiting is what many rely on. “Or until you can do something” is music to most people’s ears because most people will try to do something instead of waiting. They will give God the glory for something their own hands have made. They may wait briefly, but then go ahead and do it themselves without ever waiting to see what God’s plan looked like. They were just happy to be on their way. Our view of briefly and God’s view of briefly are different. God said, Isaiah 54:7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. 8 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer.” When you look up the meaning of a brief moment, most define this to mean a very short time, but a very short time to us is altogether different than God’s definition as we have seen over these last 2000 years. From man’s perspective we want God to operate under our parameters. We want God to understand that a brief moment is a very short period of time, not years or even hundreds of years. We want to move when we think it is time to move. Most do not want to wait on God for direction.
This is why most do not like to wait on God. It simply takes too long and doesn’t fit with our schedules. Waiting on God can also put is in some predicaments that are very uncomfortable. People will pray, Lord, answer us when we call and then when God is slow according to our definition of slow, or doesn’t answer because other gospels are followed, they go ahead and do it themselves and do not repent or wait for God’s plan to unfold in their lives. Psalm 106:13 “But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his plan to unfold,” even though they had seen God’s strong arm defeat their enemies and provide for them. Not waiting for God’s plan to unfold is rejecting God. You are saying to God I prefer plan over yours. Psalm 94:11 “The Lord knows all human plans; he knows that they are futile.” Psalm 33:11 “But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” Even if you have repented and are obeying God’s word, you still have to wait. Lamentations 3:22 “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” 25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Isaiah 30:18 “The Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
As scripture shows us, God does not always move quick, but His timing is always perfect. James 5:7 “Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! 10 Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” As we saw with Job, he had to wait through some tremendous adversity, but he did not give up because he trusted in his God. Even when God was silent, Job never turned away. Job 23:8 “But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I do not find him. 9 When he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him. 10 But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. 11 My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. 12 I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread.”
But not everyone will wait on God like Job did especially when the enemy is upon us. Isaiah 57:11 “Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have not been true to me, and have neither remembered me nor taken this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me? 12 I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you. 13 When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you! The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away. But whoever takes refuge in me will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain. 16 I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of me— the very people I have created. 17 I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways. 18 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners, 19 creating praise on their lips. Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the Lord. “And I will heal them.” 20 But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. 21 “There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” Those who do not wait on God do not fear Him, but those who do wait, Isaiah 40:28 “The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope / wait in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Prayer is not calling out to God and then doing it yourself when you think God is taking too long. Obedience is doing as God commands and waiting for His plan to unfold. Saul was called to be Israel’s first king, even though that really is not how it was supposed to go. 1 Samuel 8:5 “They said to him, “You (Samuel) are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you.” Later, after Saul was anointed king, Samuel would say, 1 Samuel 12:12 “But when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to me, ‘No, we want a king to rule over us’—even though the Lord your God was your king. 13 Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the Lord has set a king over you. 14 If you fear the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God—good! 15 But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors. 16 “Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes! 17 Is it not wheat harvest now? I will call on the Lord to send thunder and rain. And you will realize what an evil thing you did in the eyes of the Lord when you asked for a king. 18 Then Samuel called on the Lord, and that same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. So all the people stood in awe of the Lord and of Samuel. 19 The people all said to Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants so that we will not die, for we have added to all our other sins the evil of asking for a king.” 20 “Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. 22 For the sake of his great name the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own. 23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. 24 But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you. 25 Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish.”
As they did many times, Israel wanted to be like the nations around them and served other gods. Saul was selected and then anointed as king even though the people turned against God as their king. 1 Samuel 9:15 “Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed this to Samuel: 16 “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel; he will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked on my people, for their cry has reached me.” 1 Samuel 10:1 “Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance?” Then Samuel said 6 “The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you. 8 “Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.” How amazing was that and what could go wrong. God had answered their cry and they would defeat the Philistines. The first part happened to Saul. 9 As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. 10 When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying.” God had already given instruction about the king. Deuteronomy 17:18 “When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.”
Saul did not revere God by obeying his command to wait seven days. After he was anointed King, he defeated the Ammonites and then Samuel confirmed Saul as king. Now the Philistines had gathered to fight against them and the people were called to Gilgal. 1 Samuel 13:5 “The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore.” Even though God had already gave Saul victory against the Ammonites, the people were terrified. 6 When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. 7 Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear.” Samuel had told Saul, “you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.” Saul obeyed and waited the seven days, or did he? He did not wait as commanded because Samuel was not there yet. Saul decided he knew better than God and knew exactly what to do. Yes, it was the seventh day, but Saul decided not wait for Samuel who arrived at just the right time on the seventh day. This is where faith and trust are tested. It looked like Philistines were about to overpower them and the men were scattering, so Saul decided he had to do something just like the definition of wait said “or until you can do something.” Instead of waiting for Samuel to arrive 8 He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. 9 So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering.”
This is the part that is amazing. The Philistines were about to attack and Samuel walks up to where there was fear and everyone was scattering. Then it was even more amazing that Saul said to Samuel, you did not show up when you said you would, which was not true, yet Saul blamed Samuel. 1 Samuel 13:11 “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, 12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” Most Christians today do not even need an army attacking them before they turn away from God and do it themselves. That is how they have been taught. Pray like it is all God and work like it is all you. If you have fallen for that saying, repent because it all depends on God. We have all prayed that prayer to God and then waited for a brief moment for God to respond and then go ahead with our own plans without waiting. Saul did not wait, so he disobeyed God. This was a test. It wouldn’t be much of a test if he only had to wait one day, he had to wait the full seven days when the enemy was gathering against him. God tested him, just as God tested Abraham and right at the last moment provided a way.
Even though Saul greeted Samuel joyfully, Samuel responded, 1 Samuel 13:11 “What have you done?” After Saul explained as we just read, Samuel said, 3 “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “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. 14 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.” Saul would lose the kingdom all because he did not wait for God’s timing and went ahead and took matters into his own hands. The church has missed out on so much power because it refuses to wait on God a;; because the church prefers to do it themselves. Saul would keep disobeying God’s commands and God would turn away from him. Samuel gave him another message from God but again Saul refused to obey and acted as if he did obey. He was told 1 Samuel 15:3 “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ 9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.” God then said 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all that night. 12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.” 13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” 14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?” Saul would then refuse to admit he disobeyed. Then Samuel said, “You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!”
Saul was told to wait and he did not because he thought he could do it himself. This led to once again rebelling against God’s commands and being filled with pride, enough so that he set up a monument in his own honor. When God says to wait, He means it. This week we will be talking about waiting on God even when the waiting gets tough.
