Seizing the Moment - Day 201 Month 7-19 Week 29-5
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
1 Samuel 23:15-25:1, Proverbs 9:13-18, Ezekiel 7, Acts 27:14-44
Seizing the Moment
Saul wanted only one thing: to end David’s life. David knew he had been anointed to be king, and suddenly the perfect opportunity was right in front of him. The men with David said that God was “about to give your enemy into your hand. And you shall do to him as it seems good to you” (1 Samuel 24:4). So David did what seemed good to him. He cut off the edge of Saul’s robe.
Squirrel! I am amazed that Saul did not hear David and his men. Imagine a large, dark cave where every noise is amplified by the echo, yet David was able to get close enough to cut Saul’s garment without being heard. Maybe the noise of Saul’s men outside the cave was enough to cover the sound. Maybe Saul was singing while relieving himself. Somehow, though, he remained unaware that anyone else was there.
David chose not to seize the moment, even though his men believed that God had provided the opportunity.
I am intrigued that David recognized that this was not the right time and that he was not meant to take advantage of the situation. Somehow, David understood that it was not his place to remove Saul as king and that God would do it in His own way.
The lesson I take from this is that God's timing is not necessarily our timing, and I would suggest that this is usually the case. Not every moment in which we are called to trust God's timing is as dramatic as David sparing Saul's life. Here are a couple of simple examples from my own life.
Earlier this year, I shared on this blog that I needed either to replace my truck or repair it. Either way, I needed a truck. I was convinced that God wanted me to buy a newer truck, and I spent a lot of time researching my options. That turned out not to be God’s timing. My old truck was repaired, and it likely has at least two more years left in it.
I was working as a facility manager at a church in Oakville, Ontario, and enjoying life with Sylvia and Jake in Hamilton. My plan was to continue working until I was sixty five, retire, and eventually move somewhere less urban and less expensive. Then, at sixty one, near the end of the Covid pandemic, we realized that we could sell our house for far more than we had expected. We had already been thinking about Nova Scotia, and suddenly the move became a reality. It was not our plan, but perhaps God had something different in mind. I have not fully retired, but life is slower and more enjoyable. Why Nova Scotia? That is a story for another time, though I suspect there is more to it than we understood at the time.
Those are only two examples from my own life, but they remind me that God’s timing is perfect while ours is often an attempt to get things right. There are many things in the world that are troubling, and at times it seems like the perfect moment for Jesus to return. Yet this is not God’s timing. What I do know is that, when He does return, it will be at exactly the right moment.
David eventually became king, but not until Saul and his sons died in a battle in which David played no part. David was described as a king “after God’s own heart,” but if he had taken Saul’s life in that cave, it would not have been God’s perfect timing. We do not know how events would have unfolded differently, but we know they would have. Instead, David became king in a noble way because he chose God’s way.
Have a great day!
Steve
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