King David

Here’s the thing that amazes me most about King David: he was anointed king years before he actually became the king. He knew God’s plan when he was a musician playing in the king’s palace. When he was a lowly shepherd boy slinging rocks at a giant. When the king tried to kill him (over, and over). When he lived like a fugitive. When he had the chance to kill the king.

All that time, David just waited. He knew God’s plan. He knew it. But he waited patiently. He didn’t turn around and sling a rock at Saul. Or kill him when he caught him taking care of business in a cave. 

I remember going to a writer’s conference a couple years ago and Jerry B. Jenkins answered an audience question about what he’d tell his young self if he could. Jerry said, “I’d tell myself, ‘you’re going to be very, very lucky.’” And I thought, “I wouldn’t want to know.”

Because if I knew that I was going to rule a country or sell best-selling books…I wouldn’t be patient about it. I’d try to make it happen sooner. I’d try to rush God’s plans. If I knew now that 10 years from now I’d be doing X (assuming I liked plan X), I’d try to make it happen in 1 year. The Bible says David was a man after God’s own heart. And with the exception of a few really bad decisions in there, he showed it over and over again. But one way that I’ve often overlooked in that is his patience.

 Sometimes I feel like I want a spoiler of certain things that will happen in my life. But thank God, he hasn’t shown them to me.