Small Steps to Big Moments

1 Sa 15.22-23 “22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

1 Sa 18.6-9 “6 And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. 7 And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 8 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? 9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.”

Small Decisions Lead to Defining Moments

Some words on decisions

Life is full of decisions

Not all decisions are equal

Some decisions change the course of your life

Good Decisions

Made in your right mind

Consider the consequences

Accept godly counsel

Have a long term view

Life altering decisions

Highly consequential

The consequences may not always be immediately clear.

A lot of successes and failures in life hinge on little decisions that are unseen

What you do with your time

What you hide or reveal

The nature of your self-talk

Worldview-framing decisions

Cumulative decisions over time

Repetition over time puts you into the positions for the moments that alter your life’s course

Saul’s Defining Moment

Saul had every opportunity to be successful; what happened. On some level, we might notice that he wasn’t a king that the Lord had chosen for himself, while David was; however, God did choose Saul and point him out to Samuel. But in the course of their lifetimes, they each made decisions that reflected their nature and character, and those decisions led them down the road of their destiny.

Saul’s destiny was sealed with his Amelekite decision

1 Sa 15.7-11 “7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. 10 Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, 11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.”

Saul kept the elements that would most likely perpetuate the enemy’s power.

Cumulative over time - self-willed and impetuous decisions were part of Saul’s history

Hiding among the stuff

To prohibit eating during battle

To slay his own son for violating his oath

Worldview-framing - Saul’s decision to preserve the best was really setting or reflecting a worldview of self-interest

Saul made an evaluation based on what he could see with his natural eye

Saul’s had previously showed impetuosity

1 Sa 13.8-10 “8 And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9 And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. 10 And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him.”

1 Sa 13.13-14 “13 And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. 14 But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.”

Character is formed one decision at a time.

Saul had a history of making rash and impulsive decisions and not appropriately reverencing the things of God.

David’s Defining Moment

Goliath was a defining moment in David’s life

1 Sa 18.6-9 “6 And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. 7 And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 8 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom? 9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.”

This was a moment of great importance, in which the people began to regard David as a powerful leader, and Saul began his wary jealousy of David.

David previously faced down lions and bears

1 Sa 17.34-37 “34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. 37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.”

What would David have known about succeeding Saul as king when he was on the back side of the desert tending sheep? Probably nothing at all

One small decision opened the door

Maybe it’s found in a small, almost unnoticed moment in Scripture:

1 Sa 16.11-13 “11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. 12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.”

Maybe the decision that determined his destiny was his willingness to respond when he was called.

Favor with God is developed one day at a time

David’s life took on the shape of victory and respectability because he lived out a character of courage and respect.

Each Day is a Decision Day

Foundational decisions can secure God’s blessing

God first emphasizes the experience of leanness before the first stone of the rebuilt temple was laid:

Hag 2.15-17 “15 And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the LORD: 16 Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty. 17 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the LORD.”

But the very day the foundation was laid changed everything.

Hag 2.18 “18 Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the LORD’S temple was laid, consider it.”

God takes notice of the first step you take in dedication to his purposes. And his blessing begins to work from the first step.