The Cost Of Impatience And The Wisdom Of Waiting

When everyday life blurs into routine, it’s easy to chase quick fixes that look strong on the surface. Our conversation traces Israel’s turning point in 1 Samuel 8—when the people asked for a king like the other nations—and unpacks why impatience often taxes the future. We look at the warning God gave through Samuel about the hidden costs of human systems: conscription, taxation, and a creeping loss of freedom. That ancient caution sounds uncomfortably modern, especially when comparison and pressure make shortcuts feel irresistible.

We share why comparison edits reality, why covenant identity beats cultural approval, and how spiritual compromise can blind even sincere people. You’ll hear a practical framework for healthy transitions: name the real problem without forcing the solution, test desires for fear or envy, count long-term costs, and honor God’s timing. We also speak candidly about leadership pressure and people-pleasing—how urgency can push us toward “Saul” solutions while God quietly prepares a “David” in the wings. Along the way, we return to gospel-centered identity: citizens of an eternal kingdom, co-heirs with Christ, empowered by resurrection life to wait well and lead with courage.

If you’re standing at a crossroads—tired of the mundane, tempted by quick wins, or feeling the weight of others’ expectations—this episode offers clarity, biblical insight, and steady hope. Listen to learn how to resist deceptive appearances, embrace wise pacing, and make choices that align with God’s heart. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s rushing a big decision, and leave a review with the toughest wait you’re facing right now.

Chapters

• 1:14 Earth, Time, And Transitions
• 3:39 Life In God’s Kingdom
• 6:21 Old Nature And Spiritual Conflict
• 6:21 Israel As Case Study: 1 Samuel
• 6:48 Israel Demands A King
• 12:45 The Warning About Human Kings
• 16:05 Why Comparison Deceives
• 22:36 Compromise And Spiritual Blindness
• 27:51 Pressures Of Leadership

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:38

The longer I live, the more I realize that Earth is quite an amazing place to live, to say the least. We have some of the most beautiful things a person could ever hope to see and experience on planet Earth. And at the same time, we have some of the most challenging things that a person could ever dream about going through on planet Earth. And there are transitions that take place in our time spent on planet Earth. We live in the realm of time and space, carved into eternity. It's an amazing thing. We can only learn certain things in this place. We can't learn anywhere else. It requires time, it requires space, it requires us living on earth in order to go through things that prepare us for the next place and station in life. That's an amazing truth. The fact that what's taking place is not just same old, same old, even though it feels like that sometimes. It feels like all we're doing is going through each day, and it kind of bleeds into the next day, and there's not really all that much going on. Until, right? Until there's a transition that takes place. And then it is temptation for everyone during that time of transition to say, well, having that mundane life wasn't all that bad after all. And can't we just go back and do things that way all the time? Let's just go back and do that whole way of living again. Except it doesn't work that way. Especially when we are members, citizens of the kingdom of God, when we've been born supernaturally as citizens, as sons and daughters, as children into the kingdom of God, where we have all the rights, the same rights, the same privileges, the same access points that Jesus has made available to us because we have become co heirs with him by virtue of the fact that he shed his blood on our behalf. He was the sacrifice that was offered up that made it possible for us to have a true, alive, living, healthy relationship with our Heavenly Father, with God. Relationship with God, not just having relationship with Him, but having His life imparted to us as a gift. The very life of God, the same power, the same life that caused Jesus to rise from the dead, dwells in us. Resurrection life, resurrection power. We are citizens of a kingdom that is an eternal kingdom. It's everlasting. It is the supreme, highest ranking ruling kingdom that there is. And we've been called into it by the very fact that Jesus made it possible for us if we believe in who He is, and we enter into covenant with Him, meaning we give Him with ours and He takes it, and He gives us what's His and we receive it. Powerful. Our sins nailed to the cross along with Jesus. All the sins that we could possibly commit, the ones we previously were involved in, the ones that we might be committing right now, and the ones that we might commit in the future, all nailed to the cross. We are dead to that old nature. And yet it still tries to find an expression when we make choices that align ourselves with the powers of darkness. So what we're doing in this particular podcast episode is we're kind of taking a step back again and looking at Israel, and we're looking at the book of 1 Samuel because we're kind of parked in that particular book. We're finding a lot of insights that are written, make application for us today, good application. And so in chapter eight of 1 Samuel, there's a key transitional time that we're looking at. And in this particular portion of Scripture, Israel is asking for a king. A king just like the other nations had. And he promised that if they maintained the covenant conditions with him, that the impact of his kingdom flowing to Israel and through Israel would impact the nations. It would be a blessing to the nations. But if not, they would fall under the chastisement of the Lord Himself. And so Israel has reached a point in their daily living where they didn't want to be ruled by God anymore. They wanted to have a king like the other nations because they saw something there that they thought they needed and wanted. And isn't that the case when we look outside of what we have been given? And we look at others, and the appearance is that they have something better. Even though what they have is inferior, it appears as though it's better. It's deceptive by nature. You see, this has been going on a long, long time. This has been going on since the very creation of mankind, since the Garden of Eden experience, where the serpent came into the garden and deceived Adam and Eve into rebelling against God and falling into the same condition, Satan, and that is his rebellious nature became sin and death, that then became the very nature of mankind was sin and death. We received that when we place our allegiance at that time under the rulership of Satan and his kingdom. When I say we, I'm saying mankind. Because within the loins of Adam and within the eggs of Eve, we were all found in there in the beginning. Just like Abraham was to become a father of many nations.

SPEAKER_01: 9:37

Yet he was one man.

SPEAKER_00: 9:39

How could that be except that the nations were in the very loins of Abraham? Powerful what God has placed within us. How we fit into his master plan intricately, each one of us. And so there's a plan going on. There has been a plan from the beginning. That beginning plan was for mankind to colonize planet earth with God's kingdom. That his kingdom, his invisible kingdom, would become visible on planet earth, and that his kingdom would cover the earth. That the glory of the Lord, the manifestation of his kingdom, would cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. Well, his glory, his kingdom would be manifest all throughout the earth through his people, as we would multiply and take dominion and subdue the earth and manage it in the very name of God. Hallelujah. Except mankind fell. And then there became a clash, a kingdom clash. And it's always been a kingdom clash from that point on, and we see it manifesting in Israel when they wanted to switch over from having God being their king, from them being the chosen nation of God to bless all the other nations, they chose to look at what the other nations had and said they have it better than we have it. And so we're picking up this particular transitional point in the nation of Israel and in the leadership of one of their judges.

SPEAKER_01: 11:50

In fact, the last judge, and that was and is the prophet Samuel.

SPEAKER_00: 12:02

And so we read in Samuel chapter eight, beginning verse one, I'm gonna read the entire chapter. The scripture says, When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel, the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Rama. They said to him, You are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to lead us, such as the other nations have. But when they said, Give us a king to lead us, this displeased Samuel. So he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord told him, Listen to all the people are saying to you. It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them, but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king will reign over them, what and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do. So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, This is what a king who will reign over you will do. He will take your sons and make them serve him with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some will assign to commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plough his ground and reap his harvest, and still others make weapons of war and equip for his chariot and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your men servants and your maidservants, and the best of your cattle and donkeys will he will take for his use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the Lord will not answer you in that day. But the people refused to listen to Samuel. No, they said, We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king, and he will lead us and go out before us, fight our battles. When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord, the Lord answered, Listen to them and give them a king. Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, Everyone go back to his own town. Transitions, right? Now Samuel had served for about forty years as the chief judge or decision maker in Israel underneath the headship, the kingship of God. And he had done a very good job, except he didn't do a very good job raising his sons, because they didn't walk in his ways. Much like Eli's sons did not walk in his ways, and Eli was one who really raised Samuel. Well, what he saw Eli do apparently he imitated because Samuel's sons did not walk in his ways, and the people didn't want to have his sons rule them. And so instead of praying to God for a different solution, they wanted a king like the other nations had, because they were looking around at the other nations, saying to themselves, they have it better. We want to do what they're doing because it looks like they're having a better time at it, also. Because they were fulfilling all the lusts of their flesh. And from the outside, it looked like they were having a free-for-all. Like they were having a great time, and they were literally oppressing Israel in the process. So Israel thought, well, if we have a king, we can go to battle against them, and then we will do to them what they're doing to us. Well, that's not the purpose behind transitions. And interestingly enough, there was a transition that was taking place, and God was initiating it, and his kingdom was advancing according to God's plan. But the people in Israel couldn't see that because they had allowed themselves to begin to compromise their relationship with God and began serving other gods, thus blinding them and prohibiting them from having any kind of good, real, healthy relationship with the living God, because they were serving idols, lesser gods, and doing the things that they required to appease them. And some of the things were very, very lewd and very, very disheartening when it came to the value of human life. But that wasn't what they saw on the surface. What they saw was a people around them who were prospering and having a good time, whereas Israel didn't seem to have it going as well because of their compromise. Where previously they had been the ones who were the envy of the nations, feared by other nations because of the greatness of God, and yet they suddenly gave themselves over to looking at the way other people are doing things. And isn't that the case, once again, within our own lives, when we begin to look outside of our own relationship with God, if you have one, and look to other people who don't have a relationship with God at all, and don't care to have one, and blatantly live their lives out to please nothing other than their own flesh, and it looks enjoyable, and it looks like they have it easier, but in all reality, looks are deceiving, and it's not that way, it's actually a heavier lifestyle. Sin and death are heavy, guilt is heavy, and all of that is part of the kingdom of darkness. Guilt, fear, shame, all that stuff, that negative negative pressure. You have to put on a real kind of a facade in order to not look like you're always miserable because of the weight and guilt that comes along with the shame of living a life outside of covenant with God. And so there are ways in which transitions can take place that are good, and there are ways that take place that are unhealthy. And Israel was choosing an unhealthy way to go through transition by demanding to have things the way that other people had them. In other words, they're saying to God, we don't want to do things according to the way that you have things laid out. We want to do things the way that we see the other people doing things. And their gods are more appealing to us than you. Talk about a blatant rejection. And oftentimes that's the case, where people one day decide, well, you know what, I'm no longer gonna serve God. I just don't think that it's worth it anymore. I'm just gonna I'm gonna cash it. Too hard. This life is too hard, it's too restrictive. I don't think I can do it. You know, I had it better when I was just doing it on my own before. Or I see other people have it better than I do. Let me just look to them because it looks like they have it going on. I don't really have it going on. Well, you know, I I I'm kind of confused. You know, things can get in life, things can get confusing, and that's when we start feeling like, well, we need to do something. Something's gotta happen, something's gotta change. And true, transitions do feel like that when they are being initiated by God that something needs to change, but they don't have that helterskelter feel to them. Well, we need to make a decision now, versus going through the process of change. You see, God was going to give Israel a ruler that was one that was after his own heart, and that was going to be David. And he had David in the wings, but it wasn't time for David to come forward yet. But the people wanted a king now. But we want, we want it now, right? We want it now, we don't want to wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait, can't wait. We want it now, instead of waiting for God's timing, because sometimes it feels like it's never gonna happen, and we take it those matters into our own hands, which is a mistake. And if you're a leader, you can feel the pressure of people. If you're a person who has people-pleasing tendencies or the fear of man in your system still, people can put pressure on you to do things that you don't necessarily want to do, but they're looking to you to do something because you're the leader, and the pressure to do something on behalf of the people can really be very significant, but when the Lord says something, that's when it's best we obey. And sometimes there are things that we don't see going on that God has a view of that's better than ours, and he wants us to trust him because he can see things more clearly, and wants to give us every opportunity to do things together with him. And so we're gonna be looking at ways in which we can comply with God versus falling into the temptation of doing things during a time of transition. That is what Israel did, and that they wanted a king and they got a king, and it was a disaster. For the 40 years that Saul was king, the majority of it was problematic. There were some victories, but often they came as a result of David being by Saul's side. So God had something in store, but the people wanted a king to look like the other nations. Where God had something better if they would have waited. And I think that's a key element for us to really understand, and that is that God has our best interests in mind. And during a time of transition, he really does care about the fact that you've been going through life, and sometimes it feels like it's just so daily, and that a change is needed in order for us to grow. Even though once it starts happening, then we revert back to, well, it might have been better the other way. Or we want to do it like these people are doing it. But in all reality, it's best when we embrace the way God wants it done. Because then He will fulfill the desires of our heart by giving us the right desires and us desiring the right things in agreement with him.

SPEAKER_01: 26:30

And it frees God up to manifest them in a very real and tangible way. Hallelujah. Let's pray.

SPEAKER_00: 26:43

Father, thank you, God, for who you are and for what you're doing and how you're doing it. And I ask that you would fill us with wisdom and revelation, to know you better and patience during times of transition to hear you, to clearly, clearly, clearly hear you, without a doubt to know that it's you, instead of going on our own impulses. And as leaders, teach us not to just give in to the desires and the pressures of other people, but to live according to your word and to speak strong things when necessary. Help us be more and more like Jesus in our approaches to how we live life with you and with one another, and how we impact the world around us. Teach us your ways, Lord. Show us your paths so we can walk like Jesus by the power of your spirit. And we stand here in his name and we say amen. Amen. Amen. All right, folks, we love you. And if you have any thoughts, questions, concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at life around the fire at gmail.com or type in Life Around the Fire and look us up on the web. We would love to hear from you. In the meantime, God bless you. Adios, amigos.