Taking Shortcuts

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

  

Short cuts don’t always get you where we want to go. I used to walk to my elementary school back in the day. A friend of mine told me he heard about a shortcut through a canyon that would take at least 10 minutes off the walk. So off we went. We followed the right path but it was a dead-end at a person’s back yard fence. You can imagine our surprise when the owner of the house was there with a stern greeting, “I don’t want you kids cutting through my yard!” You guessed it. We had to backtrack our way to school and were ‘tardy’ that day!

We would do well to learn from King David’s example. He had many “short-cut-to-the-throne” temptations. The prophet Samuel had already anointed him King while Saul was on the throne (1 Samuel 16:12-13). But while waiting for his coronation, he was forced to flee for his life as a crazed King Saul sought to kill him.

At En Gedi, an oasis in the Judean Wilderness near the Dead Sea, David had the opportunity to take Saul’s life. In fact, he was encouraged by some of his friends to do so. But David would have none of it. He would wait for God’s timing instead.

A Christ follower may face similar temptations—shortcuts—to hasten God’s will rather than waiting on Him. At times you may want to take control of your situation with the rationalization that the ends justifies the means. But think of it like this; if God has a perfect plan for your life, He also has a perfect time for it. God’s plan for you may include a new direction, a new position, or a new ministry. If that is the case, develop a heart like David’s—a heart that will not compromise your integrity to follow God’s will.

Then Abishai said to David, "God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him at once with the spear, right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time!" (1 Samuel 26:8)