Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 14:19, Now it happened, while Saul talked to the priest, that the noise which was in the camp of the Philistines continued to increase; so Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
I believe all of us have been at that point in our lives when a trial or some challenging circumstance has presented itself and we just sat, not knowing what to do. Maybe it had nothing to do with a trial, but had more to do with God trying to move us to get something done for Him or on His behalf. It could be that He wants us to serve in some area, or be a blessing to someone by investing some time or resources in someone’s life who is in need. I often find that our desire to avoid serving God outside of our comfort zone drives us to sit and not pray or pray as an excuse not to serve or sacrifice. Here is what I mean. We know that there is a need within the local church or we become aware that someone has a need. Rather than act and respond to those needs, we use prayer as an excuse not to act. “Well, let me pray about it and see if this is God’s will for me.” Seriously, do we really have to pray about whether giving of our time, talents, abilities, or resources, in order to bless God’s people is part of God will for us, the Christian? Yet, that is exactly what too many of us do. What usually happens when we delay a prompting by God to do something is that He uses someone else to carry it out. Saul, the king, sat under a tree, doing nothing, while his son Jonathan and his armorbearer began to be used mightily by God. What a missed opportunity by Saul to accomplish something great in the Name of the LORD and bring glory to God. Israel did the same thing when God told them to go in and take the Promise Land. Rather than trust God, they looked at the giants that already occupied the land. The spies that were sent into the land came back and gave a bad report (with the exception of Joshua and Caleb) in order to discourage the people from going forward. Once their sin was pointed out to them, in spite of Moses’ warning that the opportunity had passed, they went in of their own accord and were humiliated (Deuteronomy 1). Here, after the action was long underway, Saul calls for the Ark to be brought to him in verse 18 (a bit late I might add) to inquire of God. As the noise of what God was already doing increased, Saul realized that at this point it was a waste of time to inquire, and now it was long past the time to act. As God’s children it is of utmost importance that we know the difference between when it is time to pray and when it is time to act. As a matter of fact, because we are called to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18), it is always best to pray, take action, and pray some more while we are taking action, so that we know when God is changing our direction. The fact of the matter is that a lot of Christians, including self, will often “jump on the bandwagon” of what God is doing, after God has gone and used someone else in something He was first trying to beckon us to do. In this case, Saul and the rest of the Israelites enjoyed the victory that came out of one man’s faith and courage to move forward and tackle a challenge he knew God would bring him through successfully. What are we “praying” about today that needs action, rather than more prayer? In other words, what should we be doing that we are putting off and using prayer as the excuse for not doing it? Will we wait until God uses someone else before we decide to “jump on the bandwagon”? Will we take the step of faith and just take action as we pray for God’s direction, already knowing very well that it is God’s will for us to go ahead and be that blessing that will bring glory to His Name? Has the time to pray already passed, and we are twiddling our thumbs when we should have already been up and putting God’s plan into action? Well, what are we waiting for?
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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