We come up with all these Ishmaels. I think in business, people come up with lots of Ishmaels. They cost you a lot of money. They're wild, they cause contention and problems, and people have all kinds of Ishmaels in their life. If you get involved in Christian ministry of various kinds, well then Ishmaels abound. Everyone had this good idea, and over the years I've seen wonderful good ideas. People are going to set up this thing, oh my goodness me, and the mess that these good ideas created, absolutely horrendous.
Anyway, so there's a good idea. So here's another one; 1 Samuel, Chapter 13. Here's another guy - now remember this is Abraham, this is father of faith. Here's another guy, and this guy was a king. Now Abraham created a huge problem. He still had to wait. In the end, God gave him the promise and he grew in his faith and remained steadfast, so steadfast that God could be relied on, that when God said offer your son he didn't flinch, because He said even if I offer Him, God's got to figure out a way to get him back, because God said this is the son through which I'll have a nation. So he had a promise before he had the son, and when he gave up his son, he still had the promise. That's why he was able to go and offer up his son in the way he did. Now have a look at this one here. Here's a guy called Saul. Now Saul is a man who's come to a place of leadership very quickly. He's very tall, he looks good, very attractive, highly gifted man, but he has a word from God, and here it is. We read in 1 Samuel, Chapter 13. It says the Philistines - Verse 5 - gathered to fight against Israel, 30,000 chariots, 6000 horsemen, people like the sand of the seashore came up in a multitude encamped against them. They camped in the place Michmash in the east of Beth Aven. When the men of Israel saw they were in danger, of course they got upset and they hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, holes and pits. Some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, all the people followed him trembling.
And he waited seven days according to the time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come, and the people were scattered from him. So he brought a burnt offering, peace offerings. He said, I'm going to offer them, and as soon as he did it, Samuel came. Saul went out to meet him that he might greet him, and Samuel said what have you done? He said I saw the people scattered, you didn't come in the time appointed, the Philistines gathered against me, so I felt compelled to offer an offering. Now here it is, test of impatience. Now you notice Saul has been given a word. Here's the word - I want you to wait at this place. I will come, and you will have further direction, and so he waits. Now in the period of waiting seven days which is a perfect number, a complete time of testing, and what happens is this, is multitudes of Philistines came against him, thousands upon thousands, or putting it in modern language, the problems he was facing multiplied. It just became overwhelming, so what he was looking at was multitudes of enemies.
Now the second thing that happened was, the supporters around him were losing heart. They were getting afraid, they were intimidated, they were fearful, and the moment he turned his back, they slipped off out and ran away, so while he's watching, daily the problems are increasing. The second thing is, daily his resources are diminishing, and God hasn't come, in spite of the fact saying wait seven days and I'll come, you notice it wasn't just on the seventh day. It was late in the seventh day that he freaked out, and then he become impatient and thwarted himself. So putting it in a modern context, very simple, problems are increasing. Pressure, could be financial pressure, marriage pressure, family pressure, work pressure - pressure is increasing around your life. Your resources are diminishing. Your ability to deal with it day by day is getting smaller and smaller and smaller, until you wonder it's about to overwhelm you and God - oh, won't answer. You've all been in that place. We've all been there and in that place, what is tested is whether you can handle delays.