the sojourner

This help will come…I stand by Aslan. Have patience…it may even now be at the door (Trufflehunter, from Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis).

It’s always exciting to be involved in a new project, a new adventure, a new romance…but what do you do when it seems that nothing is happening?

You have to feel for Saul in 1Samuel 13:10—12. Poised on the edge of battle and awaiting Samuel’s arrival to make the pre-battle sacrifice, Saul caved into the pressure of nothing. He had been told to wait seven days for the prophet Samuel to arrive, but he just couldn’t. Of course, No sooner had he completed the sacrifice in Samuel’s place, than Samuel showed up. Saul greeted him and Samuel said, “What on earth are you doing?” Saul answered, “When I saw I was losing my army from under me, and that you hadn’t come when you said you would, and that the Philistines were poised at Micmash, I said, “The Philistines are about to come down on me in Gilgal, and I haven’t yet come before GOD asking for his help.’ So I took things into my own hands, and sacrificed the burnt offering.”

Notice a few things:

• What Saul did was take things into his own hands—and incapable hands they were, just like ours.
• A few hours would have made all the difference—no sooner had he finished offering sacrifices than Samuel showed up
• And the result is that he lost the kingdom forever.

I wonder how many of us have lost opportunities simply because we couldn’t wait or stand the pressure of nothing happening. We commit Saul’s mistake and busy ourselves just to fill the void and give ourselves the sense of a fuller life.

But it’s an illusion.

As followers we live in the tension of waiting and moving. Sometimes it takes more courage to wait than act (Psalm 27:13—14). The trick is knowing the difference, which requires, well, waiting. If we always cave into the pressure of nothing, we may spoil the surprises of the God Who brings into existence what didn’t exist before (Romans 4:17).