I Samuel 13:8 And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.
Patience, Not Panic
You probably know what it feels like to panic. Notice I said, “Feels like.” You don’t know what panic “thinks like” because you are not thinking when you panic; you are being driven by your feelings. It reminds me of a horse who gets his foot caught in a fence. He will yank the skin off his bones before he will stand still to let someone with fence pliers cut him loose. If he would just patiently stand still, he would be cut out of his predicament, but because he is panicked, he is making things worse. Many times we do that. We feel backed into a corner, and instead of taking our time to think about it and to trust God, we begin to yank, pull, and hurt ourselves worse.
That is exactly where King Saul was when the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight against Israel. I Samuel 13:6-7 records Israel’s response. It says, “When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits. And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.” Many people had run away, and those that did follow Saul did so with timidity.
Verse 8 says, “And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.” The Bible goes on to tell us that in a panic, Saul offered a burnt offering to the LORD instead of waiting for the designated person who was authorized to do it. There is a difference between being able and being authorized. Just because I am capable of doing something does not mean that I am authorized to do it.
Now what Saul did appeared to be good. It was religious; he was sacrificing to God. But what he did was wrong because he wasn’t the man to do it. He did it because he wasn’t thinking, he was feeling. He wasn’t patient; he was panicked. Samuel responded to Saul by saying, “Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God … for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue.”
The bottom line is that you can trust God with the time and authority you have to do what must be done today. Patience, not panic, is the answer. You have all the authority and time to do what you must do today. Anything worth doing is worth doing in the right way and at the right time. That’s what faith is, and faith often looks a lot like patience. Whatever your circumstance today, you need not panic. Be patient and trust God.