The Gap That Changes Everything
Have you ever had a promise without a position? A calling without a platform? A deep sense that God has spoken something true about your future, but absolutely nothing in your present confirms it?
You know who God is making you into. But nobody else knows it yet. Your boss doesn't. Your family doesn't. Your situation doesn't. Most frustratingly it doesn't feel true yet.
This is the gap between anointing and appointment. And it's where most people lose their faith.
We live in an age of instant visibility. If you're talented, you post and go viral by Tuesday. We've been trained to believe that if something is real, it shows up immediately.
But God doesn't work that way.
Today, we're going to learn from someone who lived in this gap for years. God often anoints you long before He appoints you, because destiny requires development before deployment.
THE THRONE IS STILL OCCUPIED
Why God's Decision Doesn't Change Your Circumstances Immediately
King Saul has been rejected by God. Clear. Explicit. God tells Samuel, "I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me." (1 Samuel 15:11)
God has made a decision. The case is closed.
But here's the problem. Saul is still sitting on the throne.
Think about that tension. Divine decision and visible reality are completely out of sync. God has fired Saul. But Saul still has the crown.
Just because God has spoken doesn't mean circumstances have shifted yet.
Into this gap this space between God's decision and visible change God sends Samuel to Jesse's house. But notice what Samuel is sent to do. Not to crown a king. Not to make an announcement. Samuel is sent to choose one. To identify one. To anoint one in secret.
David will be anointed before David is appointed. David will have the oil on his head long before he sits on the throne.
And this gap this waiting room is where David will be formed.
GOD LOOKS AT WHAT YOU HIDE
The Examination That Changes Perspective
Samuel arrives at Jesse's house. Jesse brings his sons out for inspection.
The oldest appears. Tall. Impressive. Everything a king should look like. Samuel thinks, "Surely this is the one." (1 Samuel 16:6)
But God says no.
Samuel looks at the second son. Then the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh. Seven impressive, capable young men. God says no to every single one.
Finally, Samuel asks, "Are these all the sons you have?"
And Jesse says, "Well, there's the youngest. He's out tending the sheep."
The youngest. The smallest. The one not even brought to the audition. The one nobody considered.
And that's the one God chooses.
Then God says something that reorients everything:
"The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)
The Hebrew word is ra'ah-careful examination. God is not glancing. God is looking deeply. God is evaluating inner alignment.
Here's what this means. David is not ignored by God. David is hidden by God. And this is actually a gift.
Think about photography. The most important work happens in a darkroom. That's where the image is developed. If you turn the lights on too early, if you expose the film before the development is complete, you ruin the image. The light doesn't help. The light destroys.
God isn't ignoring you. He has you in a spiritual darkroom. He is developing the image of your destiny, and He has to keep it hidden so the lights of fame and public opinion don't burn out what He is building.
Your hiddenness is not punishment. It's the necessary condition for your development.
David is unknown because God is using the unknown-ness as a tool. Your current invisibility is part of your development, not evidence of your failure. Heaven often hides what it plans to reveal later.
• The "Sticky" Quote: "If God gives you the weight of a crown before He gives you the neck muscles to carry it, that crown won't be an honor—it will be a death sentence."
• Social Media Hook: "Your hiddenness isn't a mistake; it's a darkroom. God isn't ignoring you; He's developing you where the world can't mess with the image."
THE OIL FALLS, BUT THE CROWN DOESN'T
What It Means to Be Anointed But Unappointed
Samuel brings David in. This shepherd boy appears. And Samuel anoints him with oil in front of all his brothers.
This is significant. David is anointed. The oil is poured. The Spirit comes upon him. It happens.
But notice what doesn't happen.
No announcement. No trumpet call. No coronation ceremony. The crown stays on Saul's head. The throne stays in Saul's palace. David goes back to tending sheep.
Picture David walking back to the pasture. He can still smell the expensive, spicy anointing oil dripping from his hair. But he is standing in the smell of sheep manure. He has the call of a palace, but the tools of a servant.
That is the tension of the gap. Carrying the fragrance of your future while still living in the dirt of your present.
Theologically, here's what this means:
Anointing equals divine approval. Appointment equals divine timing.
God tells you what you will become before He shows you when.
David doesn't have confirmation. He doesn't have validation. He doesn't have a timeline. He just has the oil. And he has obedience. And he has nothing else.
WHY GOD ALLOWS THE GAP
The Wisdom Behind the Wait
Why doesn't God just make David king immediately? Why the gap? Why the waiting room?
There are three reasons.
First: To Protect the Promise
If David became king immediately, something catastrophic would happen. His character would lag behind his calling. He'd have a crown he wasn't ready to wear.
Immediate promotion often produces long-term damage. Someone gets fame before they've built character, and fame becomes their worst enemy. Someone gets the platform before they've built the person, and the platform exposes what was never solid.
But here's the thing. If God gives you the weight of a crown before He gives you the neck muscles to carry it, that crown won't be an honor. It will be a death sentence.
A crown is heavy. A platform is heavy. Authority is heavy. And if your character isn't strong enough, the weight will crush you. It will destroy your marriage. It will corrupt your integrity. It will consume your soul.
God is delaying the appointment because He is building the spiritual muscle you need to handle the weight of the platform He's going to give you.
So, God delays. Not to punish David. But to protect the promise.
Second: To Develop the Inner Life
While David waits for the throne, David learns things that can only be learned in waiting.
David must learn faithfulness without applause. Out in the fields, nobody is watching. Nobody is affirming. Yet David must be faithful.
David must learn obedience without reward. There's no visible benefit. No promotion waiting. Yet David obeys.
David must learn trust without explanation. God doesn't say why the gap exists or when it will end. David just has to trust.
The waiting room is God's classroom.
Third: To Teach Faith Without Visibility
After the anointing, David goes back to tending sheep. That's it. No reminders. No affirmations. Just sheep. And wilderness. And waiting.
And God is testing: Can you have faith in something you can't see? Can you trust a promise that hasn't been fulfilled? Can you hold on to an anointing that nobody acknowledges?
Faith that only works when affirmed is not mature faith. Mature faith is faith that stands alone. Faith that persists in the wilderness. Faith that holds the oil even when the throne seems impossibly far away.
Why I Understand This Gap
I've lived in this gap. And it nearly destroyed me.
There was a season when I felt called to something bigger than what I had. I could sense a shift coming. I could feel God directing me toward expansion. And I was anointed for it—the Spirit moving, the direction clear.
But the appointment didn't come. The position didn't materialize. The door didn't open.
And the worst part wasn't the waiting. The worst part was the silence.
I was watching people I started with get promoted while my phone stayed quiet. Opportunities went to others. Recognition went to others. And I was sitting in the same position, in the same room, with the same budget, while everything around me seemed to be moving forward.
I felt like the oil had dried up. I questioned everything. "Did I really feel God's anointing, or did I make that up? Am I actually called, or am I just ambitious?" The silence of the phone became the loudest voice in my head.
The longer I waited, the more I doubted. The doubt became paralyzing.
Then a mentor said to me, "You're in the gap. The gap is not a mistake. The gap is not punishment. The gap is preparation. God isn't delaying your appointment because He doesn't believe in you. God is delaying because He believes in you so much that He wants to make sure you're ready."
That single sentence changed everything.
I had to learn something crucial. My anointing wasn't a ticket to a stage. It was a promise that God hadn't forgotten me in the dark.
The waiting room stopped being a prison and became a classroom. I stopped asking, "When will this promise come true?" and started asking, "Who is God making me into in the meantime?"
THE OIL IS NOT FOR EXCITEMENT
It's for Preservation
God anointed David early not to excite him. Not to make him feel special.
God anointed David early to sustain him.
That oil wasn't for promotion. That oil was for preservation. It was God's way of saying, "I know you're going into a wilderness. I know you're going into a waiting room. I know you're going into darkness. And I want you to carry this with you—the knowledge that you are chosen."
The anointing was God's anchor in the storm of the gap.
When Saul comes to kill David, David will remember the anointing. When David is in a cave hiding, David will remember the anointing. When years pass with no progress, David will remember the anointing.
The oil on David's head becomes the oil on David's heart.
And here's what God wants you to know. If you've been anointed—if you've felt God's call, if you've sensed God's direction, if you've experienced God's confirmation—that anointing is real. It doesn't depend on circumstances changing.
You are chosen. You are seen. You are called.
When God delays the throne, He's strengthening the shoulders that will carry it.
BRIDGE TO PART 2
But David doesn't move from oil to throne.
He moves from oil… to a cave.
He moves from anointing… to abandonment.
He moves from being chosen by Samuel… to being hunted by Saul.
And that's where the real test begins.
Because the anointing is one thing. But surviving what comes after is another.
BENEDICTION
As you leave this first part, carry this with you.
If you are in a waiting room right now, know this. You are not abandoned. You are being prepared. Your hiddenness is not punishment. It's a privilege. God hides what He plans to reveal later.
May the God who anointed David before He appointed him anoint you with perseverance. May He anoint you with patience. May He anoint you with trust—so that when the wilderness comes, when the waiting room gets long, when circumstances contradict your calling, you remember: You are chosen.
Your anointing is real. Your calling is real. Your promise is real.
May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who waited thirty years before stepping into His public ministry, who was anointed at the Jordan before He was appointed to the cross, be with you now and in every waiting room you enter.
Go forth anointed. Go forth chosen. Go forth knowing that God sees you in the invisible places, and your development is being guarded by the God who promised your destiny.
Amen
