Luke 12:35-35: “Be dressed for service and keep your lamps burning, as though you were waiting for your master to return from the wedding feast. Then you will be ready to open the door and let him in the moment he arrives and knocks.” [NLT]
Two Kings, Saul and David, give us examples of how to wait and how not to wait.
Saul wasn’t very good at waiting.1Samuel 13 tells the story of Saul’s battles against the Philistines. Samuel, prophet and priest, had told the king to wait for him. Saul did not. Instead, he usurped the duties of the priest and offered sacrifices. As soon as he did that, Samuel arrived, and Saul made excuses (aren’t we so good at rationalizations and excuses!). Samuel then delivered God’s message to King Saul … his kingdom would be taken from him and given to another … given to a man after God’s own heart.
David on the other hand was usually good at waiting on God. I love the incident in 1Chronicles 14:13-17. David already had victories over the Philistines, but they were attacking again. Rather than just assume he knew what God wanted, David asked for God’s plan and the Lord gave it to him. He was to wait until he heard movement in the tops of the mulberry (or balsam) trees, and only then was he to move out in battle. David followed God’s plan and waited. And God gave him the victory and made all the nations fear him.
Waiting is hard. The very definition of the word “wait” implies a passage of time, and heaven knows we humans are not patient waiters. We are prone to take matters into our own hands, as King Saul did. When tempted to do that, we should remember that Saul lost everything by not waiting.
The Scriptures are full of exhortations to “wait on the Lord.” The Scriptures are also full of promises that come to those who wait on the Lord. Amen&Amen