Your Daily Devotional for March 8, 2006

March 8, 2006

 

Delays Are Not Always Denials

By Dr. Paul Chappell

 

"And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him."

1 Samuel 17:38-39

 

David was ready to go fight Goliath, but there was a delay in that plan. King Saul wanted David to try on some armor first. Are there ever delays in your plans? Do you even get impatient in God's will? Many times we know that we are in the center of God's will - we may even know, like David, exactly what the next step should be, but God still wants to put us on hold for a little while. I want you to remember today that when God allows you to wait, it does not necessarily mean that He is saying "no." Instead, he is building your trust and growing you through these delays.

 

We see that during this delay, David had to decide whether or not he was going to trust in the Lord or trust in the king's armor. He had to deny trust in self, and make sure that it was on God. Imagine Goliath - a huge man with pounds of armor covering almost every inch of his body and a sharp, shining spear in his hand. Maybe David does need the king's armor. Put yourself in the story. What would you do if all these thoughts were running through your mind?

 

David decided to trust in his GREAT God. He was going to stick with his original plan. ".The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine" (1 Samuel 17:37). As our text verse says, David had not proved this armor. It had not passed the test of use in his life, but God had. He was going to keep his trust in his God, who had been proved.

 

Who are you putting your trust in today? During delays in your life, don't allow the devil to change your mind on the One in whom you should keep your trust. It is so easy to be persuaded by the world into a different plan in order to get a job done. But if we follow the world, we will end in failure.

 

Remember Proverbs 3:5-6 today: "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

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