Wait Until You Are Certain

Back to How to Avoid Misinterpreting the Bible

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As I have said elsewhere, God loves drama. Often he waits until almost the last split second before giving us what we desperately need. That builds faith. It puts steel in our backbone, spiritually.

King Saul was chosen by God. He could have headed a royal dynasty, with his descendants ruling as king for untold generations. He lost it all because it seemed to him that things were so desperate that he could not wait a moment longer.

In a panic, he acted hastily and paid for it for the rest of his life, and his descendents kept paying generation after generation. What he feared would not come soon enough, arrived just as he finished his rash act (1 Samuel 13:8-14). If only he had waited a few moments longer . . .

Don’t be like Esau; so driven to satisfy his craving that rather than endure the few unpleasant minutes that restraining himself would entail, he made the biggest mistake of his life.

He thought every minute he denied himself would seem an eternity, but the real eternity was his never-ending regret over having sold his future for a mouthful of pleasure. He could never undo his devastating loss ( Hebrews 12:16-17).