Think of what he almost turned his back on. Think of what he would have missed had he surrendered to the verdict of his outward circumstances, during those searching days when he was hot, tired, and donkeyless.

The Word says, "Eye hath not seen, no ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the good things that God has for those that love him" -- that is, provided they are willing not to change course simply because life hands them those days when they are hot, tired, and donkeyless, when they are coming up empty-handed, and they can't seem to locate what they are searching for; when they don't know where everything is going, or if they are going to come out with what they should have.

Advertisement

Those times come to all of us; those terrible periods, when we are hot, dry, and donkeyless, and like young Saul, we find ourselves there in the byways of life, carrying out those lackluster, mundane assignments, grinding it out, wondering if we will make it, and not at all sure if we will make any significant difference in what we do. I wonder what was going on in Saul's mind at the end of that first day of searching. Imagine, if he had kept a journal, how it might read:

Day 1: Looked hard for the donkeys. Temperature in the 90s, bad humidity. Went through heavy bush county and was attacked by chiggers. May die of scratching. My servant was irritable and griped all day long.

Day 2: The chiggers are driving me to the precipice of madness. It got hotter and the food spoiled, with the exception of the prunes and dates. Fought off a lion attack and was so scared, I lost five years off my life. All for those stupid donkeys. Where could they be?

Day 3: Anointed King of Israel. What a great day!

The hand of a great God was active on that great day in the life of young Saul. It was redeemed and changed on that magnificent day. But, what about those first two days? What about those first two days, while Saul was beating the bushes, getting anxious over his long absence away from his father, becoming increasingly discouraged about his failure to locate the donkeys, so that he was hot, dry, and donkeyless? What was God doing? Did He care?

When things are not breaking in your direction; when you are obeying your Heavenly Father, living in obedience to all the light that you are able to understand, and the days come and go, and night falls, and you are still coming up empty-handed and wondering if you will ever find what you are looking for, it can push a person to the precipice of his or her own faith.

Have you ever walked out on that precipice? Maybe in your life you are already out there on that edge. If so, listen to the sequence again.

Day 1 — Hot, dry, and donkeyless.

Day 2 — Hot, dry, and donkeyless.

Day 3 — Anointed king over Israel.

You can only draw one conclusion from this story, namely, the sovereign God was no more active, no less active, in Saul's life in the third day than he was in the first two. However, Saul did not know that. I have never hunted for donkeys, but I have had some days. . .

If it is hot, dry, and donkeyless where you are, you might just want to give this wonderful God of ours a chance to produce a "day three." Amen.

____________________________

Ed Bonniwell is Pastor of Faith Christian Fellowship Church in Cincinnati, OH.