WAITING on God’s PERFECT TIME
March 31 Bible
Reading: 2 Samuel Chapters 4-6
WAITING on God’s PERFECT TIME
"Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and
King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel.
David was thirty years old when he began
to reign and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years
and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel
and Judah." (2
Sam 5:3-5) "So David knew that
the Lord had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted His
kingdom for the sake of His people Israel" (2 Sam 5:12)
David was
anointed as a future king of Israel when he was a young shepherd boy (1 Sam
16:11-13), perhaps when he was 12-15 years old. He was anointed as King of
Israel when he was thirty years old. (2 Sam. 5:3) This means that David had to
wait for at least 15 years before he became the king of Israel. In fact, this
was the third time David was anointed, the one before was when he was anointed
king over the house of Judah (2 Sam 2:4).
There were
so many instances in David’s life when he could have murdered Saul and taken
over the leadership of Israel. David must have understood that before God
blesses someone or gives them authority of any kind, He tests them over a
period of time to see if they will be worthy of the blessing or calling. God
looks on the heart of man and not on the outward appearance as people generally
do (1 Samuel 16:7).
Though David
continued to have many trials during his lifetime, he became the greatest king
of Israel ruling for forty years. There
are many lessons we can learn from the delay that happened for David to become
Israel’s second king:
- David became
the king of Israel only after encountering a great deal of adversity, which was
typical of God’s training through hardship and maturing before handing over the
enormous task of ruling over Israel. Let’s
understand that delays may be God’s training period in our lives.
- The delay in
David is typical of the way God brings about His promises and purposes. God is not in a hurry but has all the
time in the world. In fact, God is bigger than time and certainly not limited
by time. Let’s understand that God has a
perfect time for anything substantial that happens in our lives.
- It is in
times of waiting for God that many have failed in their obedience. Waiting is
one of the forms of adversity, a test of our endurance to check if we remain
true to God. Let’s understand that our
obedience through perseverance is tested during our waiting period.
- Satan often
attacks us by trying to capitalize on divine delays as he tries to put our mind
at ease by pointing to divine delays as proof God either does not know, or does
not care, when we sin. Let’s be careful
as not to slack off from our divine calling while we wait on God.
- Lastly, the times of waiting on the Lord are designed to be those times when our faith is stretched and our intimacy with Him is enhanced. Let’s remain strong in our faith in God’s promises and draw closer to Him during our waiting period.
Let us learn
from David that waiting is a part of our calling when God wants to achieve
great things through us. We will be tempted to short-cut this waiting, but this
would be sin. There may be others who are willing to help us with such
short-cuts. But let us resolve in our hearts
to be like David, and to wait upon the Lord to fulfill His purposes and
promises in His perfect time. Let us
be assured that while we wait, God is working in us to prepare us for the good
things that lie ahead. Let us not doubt that we shall see them, and instead
devote ourselves to doing the good we know to do and that we are able to do,
while we wait.
"Wait on the Lord and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it" (Psalms 37:34)
