1 Samuel 13-16: Timing…. Timing is so important in many things. It is important when it comes to hitting a baseball. It is important to telling a good joke. It is important to preparing a delicious recipe. God’s timing is also important to having the best life we can have.

God has purpose in His timing in our lives. Sometimes He is moving all parts into place before He send us into the picture. Sometimes He is testing us to see if we will obey. Sometimes it is critical to the effectiveness of His plan. In the story of Saul we see that Saul’s timing was not God’s timing. Saul was told to wait for Samuel to offer a sacrifice to God before the battle. Instead of waiting, Saul took the job of Priest into his own hands and offered the sacrifice himself. When Samuel got to the battle front just after the sacrifice was given he asked Saul, “What have you done?” It wasn’t just the timing issue, but it was also the disobedience that followed.

It is easy to look at Saul’s life and see his failure in that area, but it is more difficult when it comes to my own life. I find myself frustrated at God’s timing more times than I can count. I get impatient, question, wonder if He remembers I am still here. He must shake His head and say, “When will she ever learn.” When it comes down to it, it is a trust issue. If I trust God, then His timing is always perfect. Even when I don’t trust Him His timing is still perfect! I just pay the consequences of my disobedience. There I said it, I am more like Saul than I want to admit. May we all be able to admit our failure in this area and ask God to forgive us and help us to trust Him more. The key to having the best life is to trust God and His timing.