The Road to Success: Process, Honour and Faithfulness

Hi guys! Good Morning! So I've been studying the books of Samuel and something that has me spellbound is the quality of David's character. How does someone go through everything he went through and not moan through all of it? How do you fight battle after battle for a promise that was freely made and one you know God can bring to pass in seconds if He wills and not lose heart? We tend to think that just because David won every battle it couldn't be that bad but that couldn't be farther from the truth. While winning a battle may give you something, every battle we fight in our lives takes something away from us.  It could be our peace for a season, a relationship we cherish, Innocence or the bliss of naivety. Yet, David did this time and again not counting the losses but understanding that what He was gaining was far more than whatever was being lost.

David never complained about God's speed or acted out in disobedience or tried to do things his own way. David would always seek God’s face (1 Samuel 23:2, 1 Samuel 30:8) before he stepped out into any battle or confrontation. It was almost as though He was gifted with the revelation of process and the grace for faithfulness. David seemed to understand that in order for Him to get from point A to where God was taking him these were the hurdles he had to cross and that he had to do it in obedience. This aspect of David’s character was one of the things that really challenges me as a Christian. I think of how often I want God to just fast track everything and get me to where He's shown me and when this doesn't happen, I'm tempted to just rebel (just a little bit) and do things my way. Thankfully, God in His infinite wisdom does not answer ignorant prayers or respond to our impatience/tantrums because He knows the only thing worse than failure is gaining a level of success you're not prepared for. It is for this simple reason that the time of anointing will ALWAYS be different from the time of enthronement. When God reveals to you the person you’re going to be and when you actually become that person are often years, if not decades apart. That journey to becoming the person God has promised is called a process and David understood this a little too well so he stayed faithful and in obedience through his entire process.

The other thing about David that had me shook was the level of grace and honour David displayed and how genuine it was. Many times because we've been taught to honour people, we do it not graciously, but grudgingly. We do it without any real joy and more as a matter of responsibility. David’s honour with Saul was soo real that even on one occasion when Saul went after David's life,  David's biggest concern was that Saul's guards were soo irresponsible that he got a clear shot to kill Saul. Just imagine? Soo extra. I mean how do you call a person who is after your life ‘Father’ (1 Samuel 24:11)? I can barely smile at you if you eat my food.  David however,  was not honouring Saul because of Saul but because He knew that whatever his flaws if God saw it fit to anoint Saul as King, it would be disrespectful to God to attempt to remove Saul before God decided it was time. This made me think of all the crazy bosses, leaders and superiors in our lives who we forget that God placed purposely in our lives not in spite of their weaknesses but because of them. God will always use the weaknesses of those around you, particularly those above you to test your character. Why? Because how we treat the leadership over us is a seed. Instead of passing this test what we do instead is either attempt to remove ourselves from under their leadership or remove them from being over us and neither of those things is our place to do. David told Saul, may God be judge between you and I and may He avenge me. God turned it over to God who placed him under Saul and put him on Saul’s raider and God did, in fact, remove Saul but IN HIS OWN TIME.

In summary, wherever God is taking us to, He can't place us there until we learn and understand; Process, Honour and Faithfulness.

Have a great day guys!