Don’t Fail To Keep Your Appointment With God.

How long have you been waiting for your breakthrough? Is it 5 years? 10 years? 3 months? How long has it been? For how long have you been holding on to that promise and that word from God? Today, I want to encourage you by telling you to keep your appointment with God. Maybe He has been speaking to you and telling you that this is the set time for your breakthrough and you have now grown weary of waiting for Him to come through for you. Or maybe you have been guarding and working the word that God gave you, but no fruit seems to yield from your effort.

Whatever the case, keep your appointment with God. You never know how close you are to your breakthrough. You are literally on the brink of your breakthrough. The word today will serve as some form of warning to you and me about why we need to keep our appointment with God. So let’s get right to it.

The scripture will be from the book of 1 Samuel 13. And here goes.

Saul was a young man when he began as king. He was king over Israel for many years. Saul conscripted enough men for three companies of soldiers. He kept two companies under his command at Micmash and in the Bethel hills. The other company was under Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. He sent the rest of the men home. Jonathan attacked and killed the Philistine governor stationed at Geba (Gibeah). When the Philistines heard the news, they raised the alarm: “The Hebrews are in revolt!” Saul ordered the reveille trumpets blown throughout the land. Saul killed the Philistine governor, and the word went out all over Israel. The Philistines are stirred up and mad as hornets!” Summoned, the army came to Saul at Gilgal.

The Philistines rallied their forces to fight Israel: three companies of chariots, six companies of cavalry, and so much infantry they looked like sand on the seashore. They went up into the hills and set up camp at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. When the Israelites saw that they were way outnumbered and in deep trouble, they ran for cover, hiding in caves and pits, ravines and brambles and cisterns—wherever. They retreated across the Jordan River, refugees fleeing to the country of Gad and Gilead. But Saul held his ground in Gilgal, his soldiers still with him but scared to death.

He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel. Samuel failed to show up at Gilgal, and the soldiers were slipping away, right and left. So Saul took charge: “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!” He went ahead and sacrificed the burnt offering. No sooner had he done it than Samuel showed up! Saul greeted him. Samuel said, “What on earth are you doing?” Saul answered, “When I saw I was losing my army from under me, and that you hadn’t come when you said you would, and that the Philistines were poised at Micmash, I said, ‘The Philistines are about to come down on me in Gilgal, and I haven’t yet come before God asking for his help.’ So I took things into my own hands and sacrificed the burnt offering.

” “That was a fool thing to do,” Samuel said to Saul. “If you had kept the appointment that your God commanded, by now God would have set a firm and lasting foundation under your kingly rule over Israel. As it is, your kingly rule is already falling to pieces. God is out looking for your replacement right now. This time he’ll do the choosing. When he finds him, he’ll appoint him the leader of his people. And all because you didn’t keep your appointment with God!” At that, Samuel got up and left Gilgal. What army there was left followed Saul into battle? They went into the hills from Gilgal toward Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul looked over and assessed the soldiers still with him—a mere six hundred! 1 Samuel 13:1‭-‬15 MSG

Digesting the Scripture to help you understand the importance of keeping your appointment with God.

The scripture first introduces tells us how Saul had ruled for many years and how he even had an army backing him. But that’s not all. We see Jonathan, his son, kill the governor, which leads to retaliation from the Philistines. And the word sent to Saul and his army about how their victory had angered their enemy and now they wanted to retaliate, the army got scared. It was so bad that they sent for backup. Nevertheless, the backup was not enough; they were still outnumbered. And now we get to the heart of today’s topic, the focus being on Saul. 

But first, let me ask you this, have you ever experienced a situation where it seemed like all your efforts were not enough to get you out of your predicament? Maybe you are in one right now where it feels like even if you put your all into your current situation, it would not amount to too much. Maybe it’s a project that requires intensive capital, yet you have only 10% of the said capital. Or maybe God made you a promise, but when you look at your life right now, it contradicts the very thing that God spoke to you. Can you relate?

Even with the army that Saul had sent for as backup, they were still outnumbered, and this caused panic to infiltrate the entire camp. And because of that the army that Saul thought he could rely on retreated and now he got scared. Time was running out and the longer he waited on Samuel, the more people retreated. And so instead of tarrying and waiting for God to come, he took matters into his own hands. Mind you, Samuel had already told him to wait for 7 days. And it was on the 7th day that he grew weary and got out of God’s will. And the consequences were very severe as we have read in the scripture above. 

So let me ask you this: have you grown weary waiting on God? Are you ready to give up on the promises of God? Maybe God told you that this would be your breakthrough year. And yet your life is just as it was at the start of the year. And with the year now coming to an end, you are tempted to take matters into your own hand and act. Child of God I want to encourage you by telling you not to give up. Don’t turn back now. You have come this far, you might as well stick it out to the end. You can’t give up now. Saul lost his destiny at the very last minute. He gave up at the very last minute. And to make it worse, no sooner had he finished making his sacrifice than Samuel arrived.

And as we have read, we see that because of his act of disobedience, God removed his lineage from the throne. His sons would not succeed him. And now God had to raise someone else in his place. This then begs the question, are you okay with not living up to your full potential? You might wonder why his punishment was this severe. So I’ll tell you, you see God wanted to establish a kingdom that His Son Jesus would come from. And in order to do that, He had to ensure that the foundation was strong. That was why He later chose David, whom He said was a man after his own heart. One who would obey and trust His leading. Not perfect, but obedient. 

And to help you understand this even more let us look at the practical aspect of it. 

Why is it important to keep your appointment with God?

You see before we can look at this; we need to first understand why God delays. Because from this text we see it was because of the delay that Saul forfeited his destiny. 

God delays because He wants to build our faith and our reliance on Him. God wants you to know that when He comes through for you, the glory will go back to Him. You will not think you did it on your own strength. Rather, it will be clear that God was the One who did it for you. And sometimes He will have you wait for a longer period to have you get to the end of yourself. It is in your weakness that His strength is experienced. And it is when you don’t know what else to do that God will show up. 

God delays to reveal to you your blind spots. There are things that could hinder you from stepping into your breakthrough. And because of this God might decide to delay moving on your behalf so that He can reveal to you your blind spots. You see, in the delay, you get to learn so much about yourself. 

God will delay to give you clarity. God wants to reveal to you those that are for you and those that are not. And in order to do that, He will cause delays in your life so that you can know those that are for you and those that are not. You see, the longer God delays, the less your circle gets. After all, most people don’t want to stay with people whose life seems to be stuck. In fact, in the waiting season, you get to see people’s true colors. What do you think are the reasons God makes you wait by delaying? 

Anyway, back to today’s topic, why is it important to keep your appointment with God?

Keeping your appointment with God is very vital. It does not matter how long you have to wait, as long as you are waiting on God, you need to keep doing that. God has a reason for your waiting and these are the reasons why. But before we get to that, I want to also tell you that waiting on God has a reward. And the reward is always greater than anything you have ever imagined.

Keeping your appointment with God will establish you.

God will never make you wait unless He has a reason to. We know He is not some sadist who wants to make you struggle to earn what He has promised. The Bible even tells us He desires to give us the very best and He will not deny us any good thing. But like any good father, He will not give us something that He knows will lead us to destruction. In Saul’s case, God wanted to establish an eternal kingdom through him. God not only wants to bless you. He wants your lineage to be blessed. He wants the world to be blessed through you. God wants you to break a curse that has plagued your generation for years. And God will establish this in your waiting season. So keeping your appointment with God is not just for you but for generations after you. 

You don’t want to miss out on WHAT God has for you simply because you grew weary. There is something so great for you at the end of your wait. And you might not see it now, but there is a realm that God wants to give you on the other side of your obedience and waiting. Abraham, because of his patience, became the father of faith. 

And until today we talk about him. Because of his wait, God gave him descendants that are as many as the sand on the shore of the seas and the stars in the sky. 

The establishment has everything to do with building the right foundation. Longevity will only be experienced when your roots are firmly rooted. God wants to take you to prominent places. And He wants you to establish you before releasing you. 

I know you have been waiting for a long time. But today I want to encourage you to hold on and keep the faith.

 The harvest will be greater than your wait. And what God has in store for you will wipe your tears and make you forget all that you have been through. God wants to remove your reproach. It is in the place of your most tremendous pain you will receive your greatest breakthrough. 

You might be experiencing mockery but it does not matter as long as you have a word from God. 

Abraham had to wait for 20+ years before the promise THAT God gave him came to pass. And the beauty of having a word from God is that it will never fail. God’s word will always come to pass. It does not matter how long it takes, it will come to pass. This is because God is not a man that He should lie. And also He watches over His word to perform it. His word will never fail so stop stressing. 

Also, with every word God speaks, He knows how He will bring it to pass. And not only that, He is not limited by time, space or resources. He is the Way. So He knows how to bring it to pass and how to cause everything to work together for your good. It might seem like all hope is lost and that your time is up. But God will get you where He promised you and He will establish you in that place. And when you get there, you will not look like what you have been through because He will give you a new garment. In the meantime, pray, fast, learn, be in a relationship with Him, read His word, serve and do what you need to do. Don’t worry beloved, God has it all figured out. 

God is perfecting you and refining you.

There is always a process to your promise. You cannot get to your promised land unless God has refined you. The Bible tells us that God is not slow in keeping His promises, rather, He does not want any to perish. He wants to perfect you and refine you so that you can be able to handle the blessing THAT he wants to give you. WHAT God has for you is greater than your wildest imagination. His goal is always to supersede your expectation. But in order for you to be prepared for it, HE has to take you through refining process. And usually, this is a place of limitation, delays, and waiting. It is in the waiting that your faith is refined. Also, waiting on God leads you to have a level of surrender that makes you fully reliant on Him. 

Where God wants to take you, you will require to fully submit to Him. And His perfecting you are to root you in Him so that when you get there the world does not sway you. It is easier to honor God when you have nothing than when you have everything. And the story of David is a perfect example. It was at a time of rest that David sinned against God and not before that.

The truth is that you will not always be in the wilderness season, there will come a time for your breakthrough. But when that comes, how well you handled the waiting season will determine how well you steward what God gives you. And also it will determine if God can trust you with more. Saul had been king for many years prior to this situation. And God wanted to take him to greater heights. But because of his lack of patience, God could not trust him with more. The same goes for you. Wait on God right now as this will make you walk at your full potential in the future. 

That word that God has given you is to anchor you and give you hope as you wait on Him. Samuel had told Saul to wait for 7 days and so all he needed to do was to wait for those 7 days. But because he grew impatient, he missed out on all that God has for him. Could it be that what you have been waiting for is just a second away? Will you live with yourself knowing that you gave up at the brink of a breakthrough? 

Conclusion.

Keeping your appointment with God will establish you in ways you would never have expected. And this will take you to heights that you could never even have imagined for yourself. I understand that you are confused right now, and you have grown weary, but I want to encourage you not to give up on God. He is going to bring that word to pass. You can trust Him and always remember that He is reliable and dependable. He is not a man that He should change His mind. But for you to experience the breakthrough, you have to yield to the process of waiting and tarrying. It is in the waiting that you will experience the breakthrough. It is in the waiting that God will establish you. 

He wastes nothing. God will always bring messages from messes and give you a testimony in the place of your tests. Do not mind what others are saying. As long as God told you to wait, do exactly that. After all, only you need to understand what God is telling you. And your journey is unique to you. Whenever you are tempted to quit, I want you to remember that it is not about you. 

 Think of your lineage and the life you want for them. Slay those giants today so that your grandkids can have the privilege of living in a realm they never would have. Let poverty end with you. And change the story of your lineage. It can happen to you. Saul denied his lineage the chance of being royalty, don’t make the same mistake too.