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Never Mind God... I've Got This!
Jon BurgessBut while Saul was talking to the priest, the confusion in the Philistine camp grew louder and louder. So Saul said to the priest, "Never mind; lets get going!" Then Saul and all his men rushed out... 1 Samuel 14:19-20
Somewhere in the rush Saul made a rash oath which almost cost him the life of his son. God was already winning the battle before Saul and his army even arrived so it would have been a good idea to wait on God through the priest and the ephod's Urim and Thummim. Saul heard the noise of battle and decided he didn't need to hear the voice of the Lord. The Hebrew language for "never mind" actually reads "remove your hand". In other words, don't throw the Urim and Thummim, we don't have time to wait on God right now. The painful irony of Saul telling the priest to remove his hand is that this is exactly why God had already removed His hand from Saul. In 1 Samuel 13 we read how King Saul was in a rush and made a rash choice. He heard the the noise of grumbling men and his enemies marching and ignored the voice of the God who had led him there. He told the prophet Samuel that the reason he didn't wait was that "I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came." (1 Sam 13:12).
When we feel more compelled to act without God then to wait on God the hand of God will be removed from our lives. Going slow is not in my nature. I totally get the excitement of the moment that Saul must have felt as the Philistines were in confusion. I totally get the worry of waiting as his own army was in confusion. I feel like I often do what Saul is doing here. Never mind God, I've got this. I would never say that but I show that whenever I use the excuse that "I'm too busy" to wait, pray, and seek God's face through His word. Like Saul, I am often driven by the tyranny of the urgent rather then the peace of the Holy Spirit. Like Saul when I am in a rush to solve a problem I make rash choices that tend to make matters worse. Like Saul when I see positive momentum I feel compelled to keep it going. That's the thing though. I didn't get it going in the first place. The battle is the Lords and He is letting me in on the victory if I will wait on Him. Then He gets the glory instead of me. Then my family won't have to suffer because instead of being driven by stress I'm living by His Spirit. I don't have throw the Urim and Thummim, but I do need to wait on the Lord.
Instead of "never mind God, I got this" let it be "give me Your mind God on this, You've got me." This is the exact word I needed right now in what is easily one of the busiest times of the year. I don't want to to do all this FOR You. I want to do all this WITH You. That can only happen as I wait on You for the Word and Your leading.
