Called But Waiting

Communion Sunday — September 6

Primary Text: 1 Samuel 16:1–13

Big Idea: God will sometimes confirm the calling long before He opens the door. The waiting season is not proof that God changed His mind; it may be the place where God prepares you to carry what He already promised you.

Anchor Line: The oil came before the opportunity.

INTRODUCTION — WHEN YOU KNOW IT'S YOURS, BUT YOU CAN'T HAVE IT YET

There is a particular kind of frustration that comes when you have confirmation without access.

You got the job—but your start date isn't for another month.

You signed the papers—but they haven't given you the keys.

You got accepted—but the semester hasn't started.

And sometimes the hardest place to live is in the space between:

“God said it” and “God did it.”

Because once God puts something in your spirit, you naturally expect your circumstances to start cooperating.

That's the tension I want to preach into today.

Because some of the most confusing seasons of your life are not seasons when you don't know what God said.

They're seasons when you know exactly what God said, but what God said does not look anything like what you're seeing.

And nobody understands that tension better than David.

In 1 Samuel 16, Samuel walks into Jesse's house carrying a horn of oil.

God has rejected Saul as king and has already chosen the next king.

Jesse brings out son after son.

Samuel looks at Eliab and thinks, “Surely this is him.”

God says, “No.”

Another son.

No.

Another.

No.

Finally Samuel asks:

“Are these all the sons you have?”

Jesse essentially says:

"Well...there is one more."

David.

The youngest.

The forgotten one.

The one nobody thought was important enough to invite to the meeting.

He's outside tending sheep.

They call David in.

And God says:

“Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”

Samuel pours oil over David's head.

And from that moment, the Spirit of the Lord comes powerfully upon him.

Now if I'm David, I have one question.

“Where is my throne?”

Where's the crown?

Where's the palace?

Where's the ceremony?

But do you know what David gets after the anointing?

He goes back to the field.

Don't miss that.

Samuel anointed him...

and David went back to work.

Because sometimes...

GOD WILL GIVE YOU THE OIL BEFORE HE GIVES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY.

And that's difficult because we often interpret anointing as immediate advancement.

But God may say:

"I called you."

And then send you back to the field.

"I chose you."

Back to the field.

"My hand is on your life."

Back to the field.

"You're going somewhere."

Back to the field.

And the question becomes:

Can you remain faithful when you have received the promise but haven't reached the position?

1. PROMISE BEFORE POSITION

David had oil on his head...

but he still had sheep around his feet.

His environment had not caught up with his anointing.

That's where somebody is right now.

Something has changed in you, but nothing has changed around you.

You know you're different.

You know God has been dealing with you.

You know there is more in you.

You know God has called you to something.

But your circumstances haven't received the memo yet.

That's frustrating.

Because we assume:

If God called me, surely God will open the door immediately.

But Scripture teaches us that calling and opportunity do not always arrive on the same day.

Joseph had a dream before he had authority.

Abraham had a promise before he had Isaac.

David had oil before he had a throne.

And sometimes the confirmation comes early because God wants the promise to sustain you through the process.

The oil wasn't proof that David would become king that afternoon.

The oil was proof that when the field got difficult...

when Saul became jealous...

when David had to run...

when nothing looked royal...

David could remember:

“I know what God said about me.”

Sometimes God gives you a word for a season that hasn't happened yet because you're going to need that word when the season you're in starts contradicting it.

Say it this way:

The promise isn't always an announcement that the wait is over.

Sometimes the promise is what God gives you so you can survive the wait.

ILLUSTRATION — THE BOARDING PASS

A boarding pass tells you where you're going.

But having a boarding pass doesn't mean you can board the plane whenever you feel like it.

You can have:

The right destination.

The right flight.

The right seat.

Your name is on the ticket.

And still hear:

“Please remain in the waiting area.”

The waiting area does not mean your ticket is invalid.

It means it isn't time to board yet.

Some of us are questioning our calling because we're still sitting at the gate.

But maybe you don't need another ticket.

Maybe you just need to wait until your group is called.

Don't confuse “not yet” with “not you.”

2. PREPERATION IN THE PASTURE

David does not go directly from the oil to the throne.

There are years between them.

And during those years, David learns things.

He learns how to fight.

He learns how to lead.

He learns how to serve.

He learns how to worship under pressure.

He learns how to handle rejection.

He learns how to survive betrayal.

He learns how to deal with dangerous people without becoming dangerous himself.

David thinks he's waiting to become king.

But God is forming a king while David waits.

That's a different perspective.

Maybe you're not just waiting for something.

Maybe God is doing something in you while you wait.

We keep praying:

"God, change my situation."

And sometimes God says:

"I'm using the situation to change you."

Because the worst thing God could do is give you the platform before you have the character to survive the platform.

Give you influence before you develop humility.

Give you money before you develop discipline.

Give you a relationship before you become emotionally healthy.

Give you authority before you learn accountability.

Give you the microphone before you learn when to be quiet.

Give you a throne while you're still thinking like a shepherd boy.

Here is the hard truth:

Gift can get you somewhere that character isn't ready to keep you.

So God says:

"I'm not withholding it because I don't love you."

"I'm preparing you because I do."

There are things David learned in the pasture that he would later need in the palace.

When the lion and the bear came...

training.

When nobody applauded...

training.

When nobody knew his name...

training.

When all he had were sheep and a harp...

training.

Because one day Goliath was going to step onto a battlefield.

And everybody else would see a giant.

David would recognize:

“I've been trained for this.”

Don't despise the season that looks insignificant.

You don't know what God is developing in private that He intends to use in public.

The field was not a detour from the throne.

The field was preparation for the throne.

3. PATIENCE OVER PREMATURE PROMOTION

This may be the most important part of David's story.

Because eventually Saul turns against David.

David is running for his life.

And then something interesting happens.

In 1 Samuel 24, Saul enters a cave.

He doesn't know David and his men are hiding deeper inside.

David's men whisper:

“This is it!”

In other words:

"David! God promised you the throne. Saul is right here. Take him out and take what belongs to you!"

Think about the temptation.

David is already anointed.

Saul is already rejected.

David has the opportunity, the ability, men encouraging him to do it.

And it would be easy for David to say:

“This must be God opening the door!”

But David refuses to kill Saul.

Why?

Because David understood something we have to learn:

NOT EVERY OPEN DOOR IS GOD'S DOOR.

And not every opportunity is permission.

Just because you can make something happen does not mean God told you to make it happen.

Some of the greatest tests of your calling happen when you are presented with an opportunity to get God's promise your way instead of God's way.

David could have killed Saul and said:

"I'm just stepping into my destiny."

But David understood:

If God promised me the throne, I don't have to sin to get there.

That's maturity.

If you have to compromise your integrity to get what God promised you...

that's not how God wants you to receive it.

If you have to manipulate people...

scheme...

lie...

step on somebody...

destroy somebody...

sleep with somebody...

use somebody...

become somebody you don't recognize...

then maybe you are trying to force a door God told you to wait for.

David could say:

“I refuse to become Saul in order to replace Saul.”

Whew.

Because what good is getting the throne if the process turns you into the very thing God called you to be different from?

Somebody needs this:

Don't let impatience make you sabotage what God promised.

You don't have to manufacture what God ordained.

You don't have to manipulate what God appointed.

You don't have to kick down the door that God knows how to open.

If God called you...

He knows where to find you.

4. PRACTICE WHILE YOU’RE PENDING

One thing I love about David is that after being anointed, he doesn't go around telling everybody:

"You know I'm the future king, right?"

He goes back to serving.

He tends sheep.

He carries food to his brothers.

He plays music for Saul.

He serves a king whose position has actually been promised to him.

That's humility.

David understood:

Calling doesn't make you too important to serve.

Sometimes we say we're waiting on God when really we've stopped doing anything until God gives us what we want.

But biblical waiting is not passive.

Biblical waiting is active trust.

I worship while I wait.

I serve while I wait.

I learn while I wait.

I heal while I wait.

I prepare while I wait.

I become disciplined while I wait.

I show up while I wait.

I honor God while I wait.

Because if the only time you're willing to be faithful is after the door opens, you may not be ready for what is behind the door.

Ask yourself:

What is in my hand right now?

David had a shepherd's staff.

Use it.

David had a harp.

Play it.

David had a sling.

Practice with it.

You may not have the throne yet.

But you have something.

Use what is in your hand while you wait for what God has placed in your heart.

5. PROVIDENCE HAS A PLACE

Here's what we don't like.

We want God's will...

but we want our calendar.

"Lord, I surrender completely—as long as You do it by October."

We want the promise and control of the schedule.

But if God is Lord of your life, He is also Lord of your timing.

And sometimes God knows that the right thing at the wrong time can become the wrong thing.

David becoming king was God's will.

David killing Saul to speed it up was not.

The throne was right.

The timing mattered.

The method mattered.

And eventually...

Saul dies.

David doesn't have to kill him.

David doesn't have to manipulate the situation.

David doesn't have to overthrow him.

At the appointed time, God opens the door.

David becomes king.

And when he finally sits where God told him he would sit...

he can look back and realize:

The oil was never wrong.

God had not forgotten.

God had not changed His mind.

The oil simply came before the opportunity.

THE HEART OF THE MESSAGE

Maybe that's where you are today.

You're carrying oil...

but you don't see opportunity.

You have a calling...

but you don't have a door.

You have a vision...

but you don't have resources.

You have preparation...

but you don't have placement.

And the enemy is whispering:

"Maybe you missed God."

"Maybe you're too old."

"Maybe you waited too long."

But what if the waiting isn't evidence that God abandoned the plan?

What if the waiting is part of the plan?

What if God is saying:

"I showed it to you before I gave it to you because I needed you to know where this road was ultimately going."

You don't have to know when to trust Who.

COMMUNION TRANSITION — THE GOD WHO KEEPS HIS PROMISE

And this is Communion Sunday.

So we come to this table carrying all the things we're waiting on.

Promises that haven't happened yet.

Prayers that haven't been answered yet.

Doors that haven't opened yet.

Healing we haven't seen yet.

Reconciliation that hasn't happened yet.

Direction that still isn't clear.

And Communion reminds us that our faith is not built on God always moving according to our timetable.

Our faith is built on a God who keeps His covenant.

Jesus Himself lived with an appointed time.

Throughout the Gospels, there are moments when Scripture tells us that His hour had not yet come.

He knew why He came.

He knew His mission.

He knew the cross was ahead.

But even Jesus moved according to God’s timing.

And when the hour finally came...

He took bread.

He took the cup.

And He gave Himself for us.

There was a Saturday when everything looked over.

The disciples had promises...

but Jesus was in a tomb.

They had heard Him say He would rise...

but they could not yet see resurrection.

Can you imagine the tension?

God said it—but we can't see it.

Sound familiar?

But Sunday morning teaches us:

JUST BECAUSE GOD HASN'T DONE IT YET DOESN'T MEAN GOD WON'T DO WHAT HE SAID.

The empty tomb is proof that God's silence is not God's surrender.

Delay is not defeat.

Waiting is not abandonment.

And the table reminds us:

If God kept His greatest promise through the cross and the grave, I can trust Him with the promise I'm still waiting on.

BEFORE WE TAKE THE BREAD

Hold the bread for a moment.

This represents the body of Christ given for us.

And maybe you're in a season where you don't understand what God is doing.

You don't understand the delay.

You don't understand the closed door.

You don't understand why God showed you something and then made you wait.

Today, don't hold the bread as someone who understands everything.

Hold it as someone who has decided:

“I trust God even when I don't understand His timing.”

The bread reminds me:

God is faithful.

God is present.

God is working.

God has not forgotten me.

Take and eat.

BEFORE WE TAKE THE CUP

And now the cup.

This cup represents covenant.

Jesus said this cup is the new covenant in His blood.

A covenant means God's faithfulness does not rest on how I feel today.

God keeps His word.

So as you hold the cup, think about the thing you're waiting on.

Don't worship the promise.

Don't worship the opportunity.

Don't worship the door.

Give it back to God.

And say:

“Lord, I trust Your will, Your way, and Your timing.”

If the door opens tomorrow...

I'll trust You.

If I have to wait...

I'll trust You.

If You redirect me...

I'll trust You.

If You prepare me longer...

I'll trust You.

Because my confidence is not in the door.

My confidence is in the One who called me.

Take and drink.

CLOSING — KEEP THE OIL

I want to leave you with this picture.

David is standing in his father's house.

Oil running down his face.

He has been anointed king.

But there is no crown in sight.

No palace.

No throne.

No army.

Just oil.

And maybe that's what faith looks like sometimes.

You have oil but no opportunity.

You have a word but no evidence.

You have a promise but no platform.

You have calling but no opening.

And God says:

“Keep walking.”

Go back to the field.

Keep serving.

Keep worshiping.

Keep preparing.

Keep your heart clean.

Don't kill Saul.

Don't force the door.

Don't manipulate the outcome.

Don't let waiting make you bitter.

Don't let delay make you desperate.

Don't let somebody else's promotion make you question your calling.

Because when the time is right...

God knows how to get David out of the field and onto the throne.

You don't have to promote yourself.

You don't have to prove yourself.

You don't have to force yourself into rooms.

God knows your address.

God knows your name.

God knows what He put inside you.

And God has not forgotten what He said.

So until the opportunity catches up with the oil...

stay faithful.

Until the door catches up with the calling...

stay ready.

Until your circumstances catch up with what God spoke over your life...

keep serving.

Because sometimes...

the oil comes before the opportunity.

And when God finally opens the door, you'll understand:

I wasn't being punished in the waiting.

I was being prepared.