“I want my dreams to come true right here and right now,” I said to God.
God:*stays silent*
Relatable?
It is in these moments that you wish God was more like a vending machine, where you put in a word of prayer and He gives
you what you want instantly.
I hate to burst your bubble but we all know it doesn’t work that way.
There are times when God puts dreams, aspirations and goals and He gives them to us right away. Other times,God places things on our hearts while keeping us waiting. During times like this, we begin to question if we actually heard from God.
One of the biggest questions we may have for God is, “God, what is taking you so long?”
I have come to understand—the hard way of course—that during those times of waiting, God prepares us for His promise. He takes us through a process that grows our character, our faith and also our ability to do what we are called to do. The BIG question is, are you ready to trust the process?
If “how” is your question, let’s learn from the best—David!
Chosen Child
Well, long story short God asks Samuel to anoint a new king for Israel and he went on his way to meet Jesse the father of the next king of Israel. And….
Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. 1 Sam 16:10-13 (NASB)
After a tedious process of having to look at and examine 7 potential candidates, Samuel finally found a 15-year-old, the one who God had His eyes on. Samuel anoints him. But David does not take the throne immediately? Why, though?
If this story was a Hollywood movie, 15-year-old David would have instantly dethroned Saul and people would have lauded him for his bravery and shouted slogans like “what yours is yours even if you have to steal it”. But as opposed to modern Hollywood culture, the Bible tells us that after the anointing there was a break in the story. David in fact went back to what he was doing before—watching the sheep.
This is the part where we say, “this doesn’t make any sense!” Why would God anoint him and then send him back to where he had him before? What was the point of anointing David anyway? Why not wait until He was ready to make David king?”
God anointed David so long before he became king because God wanted to take David through a process, and the anointing was a reminder of the promise that the process would bring.
Anointed not Appointed
David had the anointing to be king, but he didn’t yet have the appointment to be king. Think about this: David could see the anointing. His family could see the anointing. Other people watched as well when Samuel poured the oil over his head and anointed him as king. But little did David know, it would be many long years before that day would come and the time in between was going to be a wee bit tough (ok I won’t exaggerate, it was very very tough).
But, it was during those years that David learned how to handle a crisis, how to love his enemies, honour authority, do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with his God. Post which…
He became king when he was thirty years old, and he reigned forty years.
2 Samuel 5:4 (NASB)
The tricky thing about anointing is that you can clearly see it, you are the best salesperson, a fantastic singer, influential media personality, an amazing musician, a witty writer, wise or probably street smart and capable of taking the helm! And others are able to see it just as well as you. They extol your talents and guarantee you great things in the future. As a result, you might ask, “Well, if I can see and others can, why can’t God see it? Why then is God waiting me out?”
Well the simple answer to that is, until your character matches His gifting, your position will not match your potential. Now let that sink in!
So, what now?
Prepare for your Promise
The wait is an important refining, training and testing time, often in a way that may seem opposite to where you want to be. It was during the hard, wilderness years after having been anointed as king and seemingly a million miles away from the reality of that promise, that David learned the ropes.
He was like an arrow that was being stretched further and further backwards in the bow, ready to be catapulted ahead with great power. It was David’s time as a shepherd that taught him how to fight beasts to prepare him for his epic battle with Goliath.
It was while David was tending the sheep that he developed his ability to play the lyre and write music. If he had never mastered the lyre, he never would have been chosen to play for Saul and Saul wouldn’t have been familiar with him.
It was his time leading a bunch of ruffians while trying to avoid death that taught him how to fight his inner battles with his ego and lead well. He learned how to truly rely on God in an otherworldly way.
You might also want to remember that there was in fact a point at which the opportunity to grasp the crown from unworthy King Saul had fallen right into David’s hands.1 Samuel 24 tells us of the moment that Saul was vulnerable for attack from David and his troops, David held back and guarded God’s anointed. He chose to do the right thing and wait for God to act on his behalf, in His time. And that is how God trained David to be such an extraordinary king.
Process to Product
A process is a series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end. God knew that some things needed to happen in David’s life before he could be king. Likewise, there are some things that need to happen in our lives before we can step into what God has for us.
In a contest for the best king of Israel, hands down David would surely win! However, God had taken him through a gruelling regime to prepare him to be king. Not just any king, but a king worthy of becoming a foreshadow of the Messiah.
Same goes with you today. You may be in a season of waiting. Maybe you have been waiting for a long time, and you are starting to wonder if God will ever bring about His promise. The fact is: Just like David did, you and I can trust the process.
God, being the master archer, in all his sovereignty has already identified your destiny. Now he’s just pulling you back in the opposite direction all in preparation to launch you forward. Instead of banquets, gold and luxury, David was surviving out in the wilderness with a bunch of misfits, even feigning insanity to save his own skin. No other king went through this training regime, and no other king was quite as good as David.
My encouragement to you would be that if you could just allow your faith to grow in this season and recognise that God is setting you up right now for the work He has in store for you in the future, you will see His promise being fulfilled through the process.