Working Through the Waiting
When friends in high school were pondering career paths, I knew what I was made for. Knowing my destination didn’t necessarily make it easy to get there; I didn’t go to art school, nor even finish junior college. Instead, I did art on the side of being a waitress, cashier, janitor, or teacher’s aide, tutoring, managing a museum, even riding a garbage truck, along with being a wife and mother. For seventeen years I worked in our local school system. As a janitor, I imagined I was wielding a giant, wet paintbrush across the vast, white tile of the cafeteria. As a teacher’s aide, I daydreamed of painting the mountains outside the window.
God gives us gifts, callings and purposes He’s designed us for, but it’s all in His time. In Samuel 16, David is over-looked when Jesse gathers his sons for Samuel to anoint God’s chosen king. Young, and smaller than his brothers, he was away shepherding the sheep: protecting them from predators, guiding them to green grass, clean water and peaceful rest. When Samuel calls for David and anoints him God’s chosen king (for the Lord looks not at outward appearances, but at the heart), the Holy Spirit comes upon David, and then…wait for it...he goes back to tending the flock. I wonder if David felt a longing to do what he knew God had called him to do- a seemingly more noble, intrinsically rewarding calling than being a shepherd.
When the Lord sends a tormenting spirit to afflict disobedient King Saul, young David is called because he is musically gifted and “the Lord is with him.” He arrives and plays the harp for the king, which relieves Saul of his torment. David is humble. He doesn’t say, “Do you know I’m actually the next king?” He doesn’t try to derail Saul but bears his armor- he literally carries protection for the king and soothes him with music. David travels back and forth between Saul and his father’s sheep. Even though he’s the chosen king, he’s content to serve where God puts him.
God equips David in the decades between his being anointed and finally becoming king of Israel. As a shepherd, David hones his fighting skills battling lions and bears. His selfless devotion to safeguarding the flock increases his military skill as well as his confidence in God. When David fights the Philistine giant in the valley of Elah, he goes as God made him, not with Saul’s heavy armor and weaponry, but in his own clothes with the sling and stones of a shepherd in “the name of the LORD!” His loyalty to his Lord, his flock and his people is so strong that even when King Saul tries to kill him, David remains faithful. When he has a chance to kill Saul, he takes only a piece of his robe, and later regrets doing even that because it’s disloyal to his king. David was a better king because of his time not being the king.
We’re called to serve faithfully, to be where He puts us and to attend those God’s put in our lives. We’re asked to use our gifts to soothe souls where we are, because in this time, He’s shaping us to better glorify Him in His time.
During my season of longing to do art full-time, I put my personal pining into perspective by reading David’s Psalms most mornings before work. God gave me peace to simply abide and deal pleasantly with challenging coworkers. Because of my time working at the school, I met students and staff who greatly enriched my life, and hopefully, I helped them in some way. Because of those years waiting for this life, I learned to fully trust in Him. I learned discipline and gratitude I wouldn’t have had my wishes been fulfilled without the wait-time to grow me. He shaped me then for this time now, and the most surprising thing is that He’s using me in other ways besides just painting pictures. In this present time, He’s still shaping me for His purpose and He's also shaping you.