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Patience Is A Virtue

Updated: Feb 12, 2020


Okay, so this devotional is from March 17, 2011.

If some of the language sounds a bit inflammatory and emotional, it’s because God was beating me with every word that He gave me to write down. So, I just got molly-whopped by Jesus! (l0l) But I’d rather be chastised in love than be decimated in hatred by the enemy.

After reading my 1 Samuel scripture (Chapter 13),  I was led to Psalm 46:10-11 and then back again to 1 Samuel 13! 1 Samuel 13 tells of how Saul took Israel up to prepare for battle with the Philistines. Saul was told just 3 chapters ago by Samuel to go down to Gilgal and when he got there, to wait 7 days, because Samuel said he would SURELY come on the 7th day to offer sacrifices. Well, Saul gets to Gilgal and on the 7th day gets impatient and offers the sacrifices  himself (in God’s law this is EXPLICITLY the job of ONLY God’s priests)! As a result, when Samuel arrives he relays God’s message to Saul: that he would be cut-off. In fact, Samuel said that God had ALREADY chosen a man after God’s own heart to take over as king.

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” -Psalm 46:10-11

I must be patient. I must wait on God’s timing (Kairos). I don’t want to be rejected, as Saul was, from carrying out God’s purpose. I don’t want to be disqualified from ministering in excellence and with longevity. Saul was disqualified because he put himself first.

When Samuel asked Saul what he had done Saul PLACES THE BLAME ON SAMUEL. Saul tells Samuel that he (Samuel) didn’t come at the appointed time, so he (Saul) offered the sacrifices himself. First of all, who is Saul to say what the appropriate timing is?! It was still the 7th day, the day wasn’t over! Saul got so caught up on the appearance (eyesight) of the situation that he felt pressed for time (chronos), so much so that when God sent Samuel at the appointed time (Kairos), Saul had already missed the mark because of his impatience. [Retrospection Note: Look at how close to his blessing Saul was! He was in the 7th day and got impatient and missed his blessing]

Saul not only displaces the blame, he then puts himself ahead of everyone else involved. Here, Saul has assembled all of these men of Israel to fight and when Samuel asked what he’d done he said, “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 Micmash, 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.”

So now, Saul has assembled the men of Israel to fight, but all he can think about is the fact that the Philistines will come against him. He doesn’t say that, “the Philistines will come against us.” He doesn’t say “us” or “we” the whole time until it was time to place blame;  when it came to who was responsible for the disobedience Saul is shifting blame; it’s “you” and “they” all day long! So, now, not only did Saul put himself above God’s people; more importantly he put himself before God. (POW!) He became his own god; subject to his own thoughts, understanding, and emotions (Notice: “I felt compelled”). He had specifically been told by Samuel to wait for his arrival on the 7th day. But all of a sudden, circumstances change (Philistines have mobilized, Israel’s army was now hiding in caves and scattering) and Saul felt compelled to offer the sacrifices to God. The sentiment (offering sacrifices to receive God’s blessing) was correct, but the execution was WAY OFF BASE! ( have you ever done the ‘right thing’ the wrong way?…… Hint: It’s still wrong!!!!!) Saul took it upon himself to act outside of his area of giftedness OR act outside of his anointing!!! (MESSAGE!!!!!!) Saul was anointed king, not priest! And, just as I had a rather unhealthy DISDAIN for Saul building up, God slapped me in the face (but I sooooooooooo deserved it)!

Often, we are the one’s in Saul’s position: we don’t see God moving how and when we want/expect so we decide to make it happen on our own, and just like that, we’ve stepped out of our anointing. We were/are anointed to be disciples and ministers of Christ and instead we make ourselves into the ‘christ’ that we serve. We were anointed to be servants and we’ve made ourselves into the master!!! What part of the game is THAT?!?! During slavery, the image of this would have been a slave snatching the whip off of the slave master and putting the “stripes” on the master’s back! Now, if we were and are that fearful of another human being, such that we wouldn’t exchange places with them forcibly, then how is it that the one who willingly took our “stripes” asks us to wait on Him and when He doesn’t do what we want, how we want, when we want (although He’s already promised His coming at the appointed time), we pick up the whips of the Roman soldiers and beat Him all over again! Not because He’s done anything wrong, but because we are too selfish to recognize and accept His sacrifice and the ensuing promise! How dare we not be patient with the one who is ever so patient with us! How dare we not be patient with the one who did and does all the “heavy lifting.” He lifted the cross on His shoulders so that we could lift our eyes to the hills from whence cometh our help! He took the curse of the cross (albeit undeserved) so that we could bear the lesser pain of conviction in order to avoid eternal condemnation! He endured the shame of the cross so that we could live with Him forever! And He simply asks us to wait for Him to manifest His glory (which has been promised) and like Saul we slap Him in the face and serve ourselves. They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; not those who make themselves lord!

I get it, God!!! I shall wait patiently for the promised manifestation of your Glory!

Critical Thinking Question(s):

1)Are there areas in your life in which you have chosen to serve other gods, including yourself? [i.e. other people, money, emotions, job, etc., etc., etc.]

2)Have there been times that you’ve been impatient to wait on God even though He had already promised He’d work it out? When you acted on your own in those instances, did the situation turn out the way you desired in the end?

3)Are you willing to submit yourself to Christ in these areas and make the effort to be more conscious about these decisions? If so, please pray this prayer and continue to pray it every time you need a reminder that there is 1 God and you are not Him. [I know I have to! :-)]

Prayer to Pray: Dear Father, thank you SO much for your love and patience. Thank you for the sacrifice of your son, Jesus, on that cross over 2000 years ago. Thank you for this opportunity to learn and grow in you. Father, I come to you asking that you would remind me DAILY that there is but 1 true and living God and I am not Him. I pray that as you remind me of this daily, that I would then be inclined to die to my flesh DAILY, recognizing that there is nothing in this fleshly body that knows what’s best for me; only YOU do. So, help me to submit myself to you and in doing so, I pray that you would make my character like yours. I pray that my image would simply be a reflection of yours, pointing the world back to you. I pray that as you make my character like yours you would grant me an extra portion of patience; and in requesting this, God, I recognize that I am asking you to give me the opportunity to exercise patience. For, it’s only through exercising my “patience muscle” that it can develop and grow. God, I thank you even now, in advance, for doing this. I thank you for not only growing my patience muscle, but my faithfulness muscle, and my kindness muscle  and my gentleness muscle and every muscle that will help me more accurately reflect the attributes of your Spirit! I thank you for these blessings, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

Bless God and God Bless

THE Writer’s Pen,

Angelique

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