All it takes is a moment to define your life. One decision. One choice.
Maybe you’ve had that moment. Maybe it’s coming. It only takes one.
In the movie The Adjustment Bureau, David Norris bumps into a man in the park who then spills his coffee causing him to miss his bus. That’s “The Plan,” anyway. But it doesn’t happen that way. David misses the coffee spill, makes the bus, and meets the girl of his dreams, radically altering both of their fates.
One moment.
My sophomore year of college I met a girl while we both stared at the campus map. It was the first day of class and we both had the same 7:50. That moment affected the trajectory of my life for the next ten years. Because, I would eventually marry and divorce that girl.
But what if I had slept in that day? What if I had taken a different class that semester? I probably wouldn’t be typing this right now 15 years later.
One moment.
That’s the kind of moment Saul has in chapter 13. The Philistines have been a problem, but Saul, along with his son Jonathan, have been taking care of that. Some battles have been won. Now, apparently, Saul has made some arrangement with Samuel to wait for further instructions.
So he waits.
And waits.
And waits.
And his people start abandoning him.
Waiting is never easy. And waiting is never easy when people are counting on you, but you’re stuck waiting on someone else.
So Saul quits waiting, and does the business only Samuel is sanctioned to do. Because, hey, the people are leaving and can’t be left waiting forever.
One moment.
We don’t know if its five minutes or five hours, but Samuel finally shows up and catches Saul in the act. And he is not happy.
The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart.
One moment. One choice. One decision. And those words will ring in Saul’s ears for the rest of his life.
What are you waiting for that’s crazy slow in coming?
What else do you see in this passage?
Fiftyeight 