Did you realize that after Samuel, the prophet, anointed him as King, he waited 15 years before assuming the throne? However, during those 15 years of waiting he was “becoming” King or should I say, he was becoming the kind of person God wanted in a King.
He learned faithfulness as a shepherd, day in and day out taking care of the sheep. He learned to trust God to protect him from animals that tried to kill the sheep. He learned about the inner workings of palace life as God opened a door for him to become the palace musician. While there, God gave him favor with King Saul, and Saul asked him to become his armor bearer which gave him insight into the weapons of war and battle strategies. He ran to the battle with Goliath to publicly demonstrate he was decisive and courageous as a King should be. When he conquered Goliath, the peoples’ hearts turned toward him as King. Saul grew jealous and tried to kill David. With God’s help, David escaped. His impeccable character was revealed when on two occasions when he had the upper hand against Saul and could have killed him, he didn’t. He let God give him the throne in God’s time.
You see, God exists in the future as well as in the present. He is all about preparation because He sees where we are headed. He has works that He has prepared in advance for us to do (Eph. 2:10). We are heading toward that which will bring Him glory. Can we get excited about that? Can we participate with Him in it? Can we cooperate with the preparation efforts of God in our lives?
What if David would have said, “Now that I have been anointed King by Samuel, I think I will hang up my shepherd’s crook?” What if during his teenage years he told his dad he didn’t need to listen to him anymore . . . that he was King and could call the shots? What preparation would he have missed? What if he got into the service of Saul in the palace as a harpist and when he was asked to become an armor-bearing he said, “Um, I don’t do war?” “Music, that’s fine. I’ll play my harp, but I’m not carrying weapons, and I’m not going to the battlefield.” What preparation would he have missed out on?
Ephesians 5:16 tells us to make the most of every opportunity. Some opportunities come with challenge. Some come with pain. Some come with ease, but if we trust God, all come with purpose.
When David penned the words to the famous Twenty-Third Psalm which begins, “The Lord is My Shepherd” he was saying a mouthful. He was saying that God was in control of his preparation and forward progress. God was the Protector of his life. God was the one controlling the time table, the Divine appointments and Divine opportunities in his life. Not many people would look at sheep herding as a Divine Opportunity, but it was. Not many would look at supplying harp music for a political figure as a stepping stone to the throne, but it was. Not many people would think it was a huge honor to be the grunt man, carrying weapons into battle for the trained fighters. Few would say that it is a huge God-thing to get to be the one to face Goliath after he has scared everyone else to death, but David did because he could see how God was using it all to work together for his good to prepare him to become the kind of person God could call King.
Let’s cooperate with God in this moment wherever we are and believe He is preparing us for something great that is just around the corner!
Pastor Melissa
