Let Go And Let God

“The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.” (1Sa 24:12 AV)

These words were spoken by David as he exited the cave from where Saul uncovered his feet.  For those who may not know, this means that Saul went into a cave to use the facilities.  David and his men were hiding in this cave and they counseled him to take the life of Saul.  David would not stretch forth his hand against the LORD’s anointed.  He just wouldn’t do it.  Even though Saul was seeking to kill him, David would not defend himself against the legitimate authority over him.  He would not be an insurrectionist.  David did feel a great injustice was being perpetrated upon him.  He did nothing to warrant being treated as a fugitive.  He willingly served his king, waiting for the LORD to place him upon the throne.  There was absolutely no indication from David that he would do anything unethical.  Yet, Saul continued to seek his life.  These words were spoken by David to Saul.  It was his vow he would not raise his hand against him.  David would have another opportunity a bit later and did the same thing.  David could rest in the situation in which he found himself because he trusted the LORD to work things out.  David stuck to his core value and would not seek to “nip it in the bud”.  He chose to wait on the sovereign hand of God to work things out.

This principle is not restricted to justice.  One can apply it to any circumstance of life where we are tempted to take matters into our own hands and solve them.  Over many years of ministry, the LORD has taught me that all problems do not have to be solved immediately.  As one of my instructors said, “Just because a problem exists, does not mean you have to immediately fix it.”  I took that to heart and it has served me well.  Sometimes, things have to play out and if one handles it too quickly, the same problem may reappear a bit down the road.  This principle works well in certain trauma situations.  For example, my youngest thought it would be a good idea to jump from a transformer onto a low-hanging tree branch.  Older boys were doing it.  Surely he could.  Not so much.  He missed the branch and fell to the ground snapping his arm in two.  The sitter called us and we ran right over.  Looking at his arm making two ninety-degree turns was rather gross.  I do get sick over much, but that just about did it.  His bone had not broken the skin so we had that going for us.  We placed his arm on a serving tray and secured it with an ace bandage before we headed off to the hospital.  We could have called 911.  We could have rushed into the emergency room and demanded immediate attention.  We could have made several mistakes that may have cost my son his arm.  But we stayed calm, did what we could, and left the rest to those who knew more than we did.

We are tempted to handle things quickly and efficiently.  We want the situation under control.  If David would have killed Saul, he would have set the precedent that insurrection was ok.  If the leader seemed to be a threat, then deal with him.  How long would David have lasted having disposed of an unjust ruler?  This is something he had to let God take care of.  If he did it, it would have created a bigger problem somewhere down the road.  The hardest thing to do is to get out of the way and let God work.  He doesn’t need our help.  He may include our participation, but He has it all under His control.  Our lives are in His hand and there is nothing we can do better than what God can do.  Patience is an important part of faith.  Waiting on God is not easy.  But necessary.  If we try to end something before God has designed it to end, we will suffer from circumstances worse than the present.  So, let go and let God.  This is a good piece of advice.