"Put On Hold"

"And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines." 1 Samuel 17:2

From the dealings of David and Israel with their enemy the Philistines we learn that you will respond in one of three ways when the enemy comes:

1) You oppose and stand against him. "And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (verse 26) You take a stand like David did against that which mocks God.

2) You do nothing. "And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid." (verse 24) You can allow fear and intimidation like the armies of Israel did to take hold of you and cause you to do nothing but sit back and let the enemy continue to dominate.

3) You can join the enemy. Later in the life of David we see that he joined forces with the Philistines and actually fought with them in battle. "And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months. And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.(1 Samuel 27:7; 28:1)

It's this third response that I want to look at a little more closely this morning. David had been anointed as king of Israel but had not yet taken the throne. Here was the next king of Israel living and fighting with Israel's enemy. When you look at David's story after the Philistines sent him away, you'll notice that after this is when he was finally crowned king.

David had joined himself with the enemy and wasn't crowned king until after he was disjoined from them. This tells me that when we join ourselves to that which is the "enemy"- sin (in any form)- we are delaying God's predestined purpose for our lives. David's destiny was "on hold" because of his association with the enemy. I know that sometimes there is a timing involved but sometimes the delay has nothing to do with timing, it has everything to do with what we are "joined" to. If we are "joined" to anything other than God- especially if we are joined to that which is an enemy of God, which opposes God, which is against God (His values, principles, commands)- then we are causing our own destiny to be put on hold.

Have a great day. Is there something that you are joined to that is a hindrance to God fulfilling His plan in your life?