“‘How foolish,’ Samuel exclaimed. ‘You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.’”
1 Samuel 13:13
When Saul as anointed king, his instructions were to go to Gilgal and wait seven days for Samuel to arrive. Easy, right? However, in the meantime, Saul had powerful experiences with God, he won a mighty victory in battle, and the people celebrated him as their king. So, when it came time wait, Saul became anxious. From his point of view, he saw an enemy poised to attack and his soldiers running away in fear. To this man of action, it made no sense to wait, so he acted according to what seemed right from HIS perspective!
When things don’t make sense, I too may be tempted to act in haste, taking matters into my own hands. But, when Saul acted on his own instead of waiting on Samuel, his actions were labeled foolish! Trusting my own perspective is as dangerous as a pilot trusting the vision of a person standing in a Nebraska cornfield to tell him how land his plane on a California runway! Logically, the pilot would trust the Tower’s radar vision more than the farmer’s. So, why do I trust my own vision more than God’s, when I can’t even see around the next corner?
When Saul trusted himself more than God, his foolishness cost him the kingdom.
Perhaps I should consider the cost before acting like a fool!
