Rash, Impatient Decisions…..

Do you ever make rash, impatient decisions? We all do. Here in 1 Samuel chapter 13, we read one of King Saul’s decisions that affected Him the rest of his life. This impulsive decision caused Saul a lot of misery as he walked further into his reign as king. It affected Him so much, he battled depression, severe mood swings, and clinical paranoia the rest of his life trying to deal with it. If he had only waited. If he had only trusted God. I can’t answer this fully, but I can question why. Why didn’t Saul just ask God Himself for help? Why did he need to have Samuel there? If it was custom to have a sacrifice in order to know, why did he take matters into his own hands? He wasn’t a priest. He knew only priests could perform these duties, it was written in the law. Saul got desperate. He was so worried that he took matters into his own hands. How often do we do the same? How often do we try to step into the role of God and fix it ourselves? How often do we step into the role of God on all issues? We probably do it more often than we think. It’s no surprise that things don’t work out, is it? We were never given His role, it’s His job. And He is the only One qualified to do it, correct? Our role is to trust and obey, that’s where we best fit in on this earth. It’s only when we “play God” that big messes start to envelope us. Stop yourself from “playing God”. You’ll save yourself a lot of pain in the future. It’s more prevalent than you think. In Saul’s case he lost his reign as king, all because of his lack of trust in God. Make sure you don’t suffer this same fate. Draw closer to God, especially when you’ve been given the first step (faith). It’s trusting Him Who made us that determines our fate, not what we do in a panic or moments where we lack patience.

 Meanwhile, Saul stayed at Gilgal, and his men were trembling with fear. 8 Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. 9 So he demanded, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!” And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself.10 Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and welcome him, 11 but Samuel said, “What is this you have done?”Saul replied, “I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn’t arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle. 12 So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the Lord’s help!’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.”13 “How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of His people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” 1 Samuel 13:7c-14