I believe there is no such thing as an unanswered prayer. When we present our requests to God, He always answers. Sometimes He answers yes, sometimes the answer is no, and many times the answer comes in a way in which we would have never perceived. However, there are times when God says, “wait.”
Those times are the hardest. I am often guilty wanting the Lord to answer my prayers “yesterday.” However, the consequences of not waiting upon the Lord can be dire.
I have been studying about King Saul in my daily bible reading. Saul started out well—in fact, he was rather humble when he first met Samuel. Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?” (1 Samuel 9:21)
Two years into Saul’s kingdom, the Philistines made war with Israel. Saul was in Gilgal where Samuel told him to wait there seven days. When Samuel did not come at the appointed time, Saul became fearful and unlawfully offered a sacrifice to God. Immediately after Saul offered the sacrifice, Samuel appeared.
And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” (1 Samuel 13:13-14)
Saul lost a kingdom because he didn’t wait. What things might we lose by not waiting for God’s timing? One of the things that struck me when I read this passage is that Samuel appeared the moment Saul finished offering the sacrifice. I have found that many times, God answers my prayers at what seems like the last moment.
Waiting is never easy, but God’s timing and His answers are always best.
But they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)
