Enduring

QN: What’s one thing that you have been waiting for a long time but it still hasn’t come to pass? Very few of us enjoy long periods of waiting, especially when it’s for those things in life that we really need or deeply desire. In fact for many of us, that is one of the most discouraging components of being a Christ follower. Sometimes you know that the thing you’re asking God for is not a luxury; but rather is a critical necessity! And yet there’s still no indication when or even if it will finally come. What do you do when you’re in that unending wilderness where your dreams seem to be on hold and the message from heaven seems to be ‘network unavailable’? When we know and align with what God wants, we can overcome fear and do what others find impossible. Today we want to look at the 2nd quality of true courage.

READ 1SAM 26:1-12 (MSG)

This was not the first time that David had the opportunity to kill Saul. In chapter 24, Saul had been pursuing David when he decided to take a ‘long call’ in the same cave where David was hiding! When he realized that David had chosen not to kill him, Saul had called off his soldiers. But now he was back. I’m sure David was very discouraged to be in the same situation. “God we already been through this, what is the problem. Why is this thing back again?” Do you sometimes find yourself asking, “God, why am I here again? I thought I already prayed about this thing! I thought we were done with this!” It can be discouraging when you find yourself in the same place, facing a problem you thought you should have conquered by now! Praying the same prayers you’ve prayed so many times before.

I really don’t know what made David walk into the enemy camp! Maybe he was sick of running and wanted to surrender. Or maybe he was thinking, ‘God, I’m going in – you need to end this thing once and for all’. Maybe he didn’t even know exactly what he was going to do. But he asked Ahimelech and Abishai, “I’m going in – whose coming with me?” Abishai, quickly said, “ count me in!” Somehow, they made it through Saul’s army SEALS right to the command center of the camp undetected. And right there before them – deep asleep – was the cause of all their misery. If not for Saul, they would be sleeping in warm beds next to their wives. If not for Saul, David would be king. If not for Saul, they would not be on the run like Al Qaeda. But David refused to take advantage of the ‘opportunity’.

You need to understand that there are plenty of opportunities that are going to come your way, but not every opportunity is from God. Did you know the devil can also open up opportunities?2Corinthians 11:14 says that ‘Satan masquerades as an angel of light’. Think about the temptations of Jesus. The devil opened several opportunities for him – but what would have happened if he had taken advantage of them? He would have been sidetracked from his God-designed purpose! What we often fail to realize when we’re so discouraged by the wilderness of waiting, is that;

True courage is built by endurance.

This is a very hard lesson to understand especially when you’ve been desperately waiting for something! So often when we deeply desire something, we want to have it as soon as possible – that’s natural! And when we encounter resistance or pain, then we get discouraged and abandoned and want to give up. When the going gets tough, the tough get going! How often have I heard people ask ‘how could God abandon me at the time I needed Him the most?’ But it’s not always the best thing for us to get what we want when we want it! Sometimes, God actually just wants us to wait! And so from David’s story, let’s talk about… The Benefits Of Waiting – or why does God sometimes delay answering our prayers?

Build’s Faith – It’s one thing to learn to trust God when life is going your way. Miracles & answered prayers, provision & health, they certainly help us to trust God. But it’s a completely different thing to learn how to trust God in the middle of illness, pain, brokenness and unanswered prayers. David had encountered victory over bears, lions & giants. He knew the God of the mountaintop but he needed to know the God of the valleys – because our God is God in the good times but He’s also God in the tough times! I love that in his difficult times, David did not hide his questions, pain or anger from God.In his prayer journal, which is what later became the book of Psalms, he wrote in Ps.42:9 ‘sometimes I ask God, ‘why did you let me down? Why am I walking around in tears harassed by enemies?’ In 43:23-6 he says ‘Get up, God! Are you going to sleep all day? Wake up! Don’t you care what happens to us? … Why pretend things are just find with us? … Get up and come to our rescue. If you love us so much, help us!’ In the process of being real with God, David learnt to depend on God whether things were good or things were bad. He learnt to trust in God alone, to rely on the Giver and not on the gift. ‘If it happens, great! If not, I’ll still love you God!’ David became the ‘man after God’s heart’ and the greatest king of Israel because of his wilderness experience!
It Creates Space For God – Even though David didn’t know it, this was the last time Saul would ever pursue him again. Before the next few months were over, he would die in a battle against the Philistines. David would then be crowned king, first over his people of Judah, but ultimately over all Israel. Even the Benjamites, Saul’s people, would cross over to him! But here’s the thing -it’s probable that if he had killed Saul that night, he would never have become Israel’s greatest king who ruled over a powerful and united nation. You see short cuts may ultimately cut you short from God’s purpose for you! By refusing to take shortcuts or to do things our way, we allow God to be God over our lives. We give Him the space to lead us.