Waiting & Waiting

1 Samuel 16: 13

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward.

David was anointed as the King of Judah and yet he spent the next years running around in the desert hiding in caves as he was pursued by Saul. Paul had an amazing transformation and was called by Jesus to be an apostle. The next thing that happened to him was a long stint in the desert. He was called, anointed and then put up on a shelf. Even Jesus said, “My time has not yet come,” (John 2: 4). The moral of these stories is, even when you are called by God, even if His prophet anoints you with oil, don’t be surprised if you are not immediately launched into your ministry.

When Samuel anointed David, the text tells us that the Spirit of God came upon David mightily. We all know that Paul lived in the anointing of the Spirit. Why, then, did David spend the next several years running from Saul and hiding in caves? Why didn’t Paul, with all of his great Jewish training and the anointing of God, immediately begin to preach the Good News? There is a time of preparation, a time of learning. There is also the waiting upon the timing of the Lord.

God knows times and epochs and we do not. He sees what is going on in the world as well as the happenings in the Spiritual realm. He has all the data, but we only see in a mirror dimly (1 Corinthians 13: 12). Besides that, once we surrender to the calling, then He begins to transform us into the person He sees. We need that time in the Word and time before Him. So, don’t worry if God has called you but you don’t see anything happening. If that is your situation, you are in very good company.