Has anyone else noticed the recent phenomenon of 4-way stop sign drafting? Here’s how it works. You creep your car up real close to the one in front of you at a 4-way, and then when that car gets its turn and goes – you go with it. Bumper to bumper. Very economical I’m sure – it saves both on gas and on time.
David was a guy who got stuck at one of the intersections in life, but instead of pushing his way through, he chose to wait his turn – even though it added years to the delay. And even though he twice had the opportunity to do something about ending his wait. On two different occasions David came across a sleeping Saul and had an easy opportunity to accelerate the process of becoming king. One thrust of a spear and Saul’s throne would have been empty. Plus, he could always claim self-defense. But David said no.
He waited. He didn’t force things. He didn’t make a decision that he would later regret. He didn’t take matters into his own hands. Instead he waited. He waited for God.
This is one of the most important and yet most difficult steps to take when you are stuck in life and seemingly getting nowhere. Every thing in you wants to move forward, but that might be the worst thing to do at the moment. There might be a very good reason that God has you waiting, and if you choose to run the stop sign, you’re going to put the entire process in danger.
Sometimes faith asks you to step out, to take action, to do something daring. And sometimes faith asks you to be still, to do nothing, and to wait for God to show up. The latter is often the hardest.
Charles Spurgeon spoke to this issue when he said that the word wait describes almost the whole of the Christian life,
“…for rightly understood, waiting is active as well as passive, energetic as well as patient, and to wait upon the Lord necessitates as much holy courage as warring and fighting with his enemies.”
I love that. Waiting takes more courage than going to war. It’s hard stuff.
Moses couldn’t wait and ended up with a murder on his record. Saul couldn’t wait and lost a kingdom. Abraham couldn’t wait and we’re still dealing with that mess today.
I know that it doesn’t make sense to say that the best way to get somewhere while you are going nowhere is to wait patiently. That seems like a big nowhere, doesn’t it? But remember, the place that you’re trying to get to may not be the place where God is trying to take you – and if you are going to get to the place that He wants you to go, you may have to wait patiently.
David did. He could have taken matters into his own hands – but he refused. And guess what, he still got to be the king – when God thought he was ready.
Filed under: Getting Somewhere When You're Going Nowhere
