Session 31

When impatience wins

From 1 Samuel: A 6-Week Devotional

The thing you want is so close you almost believe if you close your eyes and reach out, you can touch it.

Or maybe, the thing your heart desires is in your hands. But, it’s slipping. You can feel it, so you react, trying everything you can to just keep the thing with you—to stop its inevitable fall.

In these moments, our sinful human nature takes over, and we fail. Often.

Much like Saul, we think we have the ability to fix the problem on our own. Saul could see the battle slipping away with every soldier that ran away (1 Samuel 13:7-8). In that moment, all the pieces were there: the time appointed by the high priest Samuel, the battle, the burnt offering and fellowship offering. There was just one thing missing—God.

Saul makes a decision. He chooses to not wait for Samuel—as instructed—and instead offers the burnt and fellowship offerings himself (1 Samuel 13:9).

Our decisions have consequences, and often we’re left stripped, a shell of what we once were (1 Samuel 13:13-15).

Thankfully, we have the Bible to guide us through these times before we have to make a decision. Psalm 130:5 shows us how to proceed in moments like the one Saul experienced—wait. “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits. And in His word I hope.”

Don’t miss how we’re supposed to wait—in hope.

While things might be seemingly slipping out of our hands, they are firmly in the Lord’s hands.

Hope. While things might be seemingly slipping out of our hands, they are firmly in the Lord’s hands. Psalm 33:20 says, “We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.”

Next time we find ourselves in a moment of trial, let’s not be like Saul. Let’s take a minute, breathe, and focus on the Lord. Let’s remember his past promises and actions, and wait. He will meet us there.

Reflect

• When was a time the Lord showed up in your life?
• Are you in a period of waiting? What does finding hope in the Lord mean for you in this time?
• For more encouragement about waiting in hope, read Psalm 37:34 and Psalm 62.