Like a great Hollywood movie, the story of David’s life is filled with dramatic changes. The storyline shifts. Circumstances change. Lessons are learned. And along the way, David changes too.
But there is one significant difference between David’s story and the movies we watch on the big screen.
In a movie, we expect the story to keep moving. Something is always happening.
In David’s life, however, one of the biggest changes comes after a prolonged period when seemingly nothing happens at all.
David must learn one of the hardest lessons any leader will ever face. It is a lesson that confounds even the strongest and most driven among us.
It revolves around a huge leadership four-letter word.
This author hates to write it almost as much as he hates to live it:
WAIT.
Leaders throughout history have had to navigate the uncomfortable space between promise and fulfillment, between where they are and where they believe they are going.
George Washington experienced a long gap between his early attempts at leadership and his eventual rise to command the Continental Army. His earliest efforts were marked by significant setbacks. The road to becoming the leader we remember today was certainly not a straight one.
Abraham Lincoln also endured long seasons between ambition and accomplishment. His political journey included repeated disappointments and electoral defeats. He could have given up long before reaching the presidency.
David endured his own season of waiting.
And from that season, we can learn three important leadership lessons.
When we last saw David, the prophet Samuel had anointed him to become the next king of Israel. David’s older brothers were passed over one by one. Finally, Samuel called for the youngest son.
David had not even been considered important enough by his father to be brought before Samuel.
If the family had been livestock, David might have been considered the runt of the litter.
Yet, as we learned previously, God knew exactly where David was.
God called him.
Samuel anointed him.
Oil was placed upon his head, symbolizing God’s calling and blessing upon his life.
And then...
David waited.
No throne.
No palace.
No crown.
Just a field, some sheep, and a promise.
That gap between the anointing and the appointment teaches us something important about leadership.
Lesson One: The Value of Patience
Patience is the ability to endure delays, setbacks, and the gradual nature of growth and change. It is essential for leaders, both in how we deal with ourselves and in how we lead others.
Waiting provides space for growth.
Sometimes God gives us a glimpse of where we are going before we are ready to arrive there.
The waiting season may be the very place where God develops the leader who will eventually be capable of carrying the responsibility that comes with the calling.
Leadership experts often challenge prospective leaders to step up and step out. They tell us not to wait until we feel confident. Move forward. Take the risk. Make the decision.
Often, that is excellent advice.
But that advice assumes something important:
That we are ready.
What if we are not?
What if there are lessons still to be learned?
What if our character needs development before our responsibility increases?
What if God is doing something in us before He does something through us?
This is one of the great tightropes of spiritual leadership.
We must be patient enough to wait for God’s timing, while remaining courageous enough to move when the time comes.
We should never use "waiting on God" as an excuse for fear or inactivity. But neither should we use ambition as an excuse to run ahead of Him.
So how do we find the peace to wait and the boldness to move?
Perhaps the answer begins here:
Be faithful where you are. Grow where you are. Serve where you are. And trust God with where you are going.
Which brings us to our second lesson.
Lesson Two: While You Wait, Diligently Fulfill the Role You Are Currently In
After David was anointed, we did not find him prancing around his family’s home demanding obedience from his brothers.
He does not start wearing a homemade crown.
He does not remind Jesse, his father, "You do realize I'm going to be king, right?"
David does not become a prima donna because someone recognized his future potential.
Instead, where do we find him?
Back in the field.
David went right back to take care of sheep.
Later, when war takes his older brothers toward the battlefield, Jesse sends David to check on them. David is still serving his father. Still fulfilling his responsibilities. Still doing the job in front of him.
There is a tremendous leadership lesson here.
Never become so consumed with your next assignment that you neglect your current one.
You may be destined for something new.
Great.
You may believe another opportunity is coming.
Wonderful.
You may know that your current position is not your final destination.
But until God moves you, be faithful where He has placed you.
David tended his father’s flocks until it was time for him to do something else.
The same should be true for us.
Your last month should demonstrate the same commitment as your first.
Your last week should show the same integrity.
Your last day should reflect the same effort.
Do not mentally leave before you physically leave.
Complete the job well.
Lesson Three: Learn as You Wait
David did more than simply survive his waiting season.
He grew in it.
He did not waste the interim.
He did not sit idly by, complaining that life was not moving quickly enough. The field became his classroom.
We see at least two important areas of development.
First, David became stronger.
Later, he would describe defending his father’s sheep against dangerous animals. Those experiences developed courage, skill, and strength that would become important when David eventually faced an even greater challenge.
Your next assignment probably will not require you to fight a bear.
But it will require something from you that your current assignment may not.
So, ask yourself:
What strength will I need to go where I am going?
What skills do I need to develop?
What weakness needs to become stronger?
What can I learn today that will prepare me for tomorrow?
David learned something else that was even more important.
He learned to trust God.
Eventually, David would stand before a giant.
But before he could face Goliath in the valley, David had to learn something in the field.
He had to discover that his God was bigger than whatever stood in front of him.
The waiting season developed more than David’s muscles.
It developed his faith.
And perhaps that is the greatest purpose of waiting.
Don’t Waste the Wait
David had to learn to wait.
He had to learn to remain diligent.
He had to learn to grow.
So do we.
Maybe you are looking for your "next" right now.
The next position.
The next opportunity.
The next ministry.
The next chapter.
The next open door.
And perhaps the hardest thing God is asking you to do is wait.
But waiting does not mean doing nothing.
Wait patiently.
Serve faithfully.
Grow intentionally.
Trust that God knows where you are just as surely as He knew where David was in that field.
I once came across an illustration that captures this beautifully. Unfortunately, I did not record the original source, so I cannot properly attribute it.
A man watches a pear tree day after day, impatient for the fruit to ripen. If he tries to force the process, he risks ruining both the fruit and the tree. But if he patiently allows the process to unfold, eventually the fruit becomes ripe.
Leadership works much the same way.
We love the destination.
We celebrate the promotion.
We admire the victory.
But God often does some of His deepest work in the wait.
David was anointed before he was appointed.
He received the promise before he received the position.
And between those two moments was a field.
Don't despise your field.
It may be the very place where God is preparing you for your giant.
