I Samuel 27:1
‘Then David said to himself, “Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to safely escape into the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.”’
David's flight from Saul had no sign of stopping. Even though Saul had said on two different occasions that He would stop. David's remedy was to leave the country. The passage doesn't say that God led him. However, he won all his battles while there, so one might say God was blessing him.
What I want to focus on is this in between time. God has something more for him. Not at the present, but later. We know that God has called him to be king in Israel. Just not now.
As I was reading this passage I kept on thinking of the phrase "now, not yet". It's referring to God's will for our lives. As we walk with Christ, we are in His will. However, we are usually going to become more. David had the promise that he would be king. It just wasn't now.
We might be in the king state in our lives. It may be ahead of us or it may be behind us. Whatever it is He is with us and blessing us at that time. This is assuming we are walking according to His will. We haven't sinned or in a state of rebellion.
We will be in His joy regardless of the life state. David has 600 men that followed him. They all had their families as well, so we could say each had a wife and two kids. The total is around 2,400 people. That's a town. In a sense he was their king. God was blessing their efforts at that place, Ziklag. This town was given to them by the local ruler. I believe they were there for a year and a half.
We may be in our now, not yet. God is still with us and blessing us. The peak may be before us or behind us. Whatever the case the Lord is with us and doing good things. What a comfort that is.
I believe God leads us in these things. The intersection that David had with Saul had God's hand written on it. God gave David favor while in Ziklag. In our present states I feel the Lord leads us in those. We are making decisions, but He influences them. He puts thoughts and desires in us. They can be nudges as well. We come across bad things also. But the scripture tells us what to avoid. If it's not scriptural, we feel a caution within as a warning. He won't lead us into temptation.
Our life function has several states. Occupationally we are involved from mid twenties to early sixties. We tend to be at our occupational peak from 45 to 58.
Then there are the child raising states. There's school and activities. Some states are busier than others.
There are ministry involvements. It may involve training and many hours per week. There will be seasons that are busier than others.
As we honor and obey Him He gives us favor in these different areas. He grants us success as well. We may find ourselves in activities that we would have never guessed. At first, we might have some apprehension. Yet, we feel His guidance. Luke 9:23 tells us that we need to take up our cross daily. That means at times we need to deny ourselves for Him and for others. At the time it may be difficult, but He honors and blesses those things.
Lord, we thank You for all the good things You have for us. With the ebb and flow of things You bless us at different levels. Thank You for the things You have us do. It all ends up to be a blessing. Thank You.