I pray that we do not live by sight, but by faith.

King Saul waited for Samuel as instructed for seven days,

but as his men began to scatter due to fear of the approaching Philistine army,

Saul, feeling increasingly anxious, took matters into his own hands.

Unable to wait any longer, he offered the burnt offering

and the fellowship offering himself by setting them on fire.

However, just as he finished the sacrifice, Samuel arrived (1 Samuel 13:7-10).

Saul's excuse to Samuel was: "When I saw that my men were scattering,

and that you did not come at the set time,

and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash,

I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal,

and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.'

So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering" (vv. 11-12).

When reflecting on this, we learn the lesson

that if we live by sight and not by faith, we cannot wait (Ref.: 2 Corinthians 5:7).

If King Saul had lived by faith, he would have waited for Samuel to arrive as Samuel had instructed.

However, King Saul acted based on what he saw.

What he saw was the mighty Philistine army coming up to wage war against Israel,

their forces numbering like the sand on the seashore,

with 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen (v. 5).

Seeing the overwhelming enemy forces, the Israelites lost all courage;

they scattered, hiding in caves, thickets, rocks, pits, and cisterns.

Some even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

The sight of the trembling Israelites scattering

one by one, two by two, was terrifying (vv. 6-8).

So King Saul, unable to wait any longer for Samuel, acted foolishly.

In other words, he disobeyed God's command as a king (v. 13).

I think this is not unlike our own behavior.

Many times, we disobey God's word because, like King Saul, we act based on what we see.

We often experience situations where things seem to work out whenever we act

according to what we see, instead of patiently waiting in faith for just a little longer.

I experienced this again this morning.