Good morning and happy Friday. I hope you had a great week.
Today we will read 1 Samuel chapters 8-11.
Parental heartache
We know that Samuel’s dedication to the Lord began from birth, as mentioned in 1:28, and he devoted his life to leading Israel for God.
As a parent, I know we all try to set good examples for our children. Sometimes, that is not enough. They still go the way they want. It’s heartbreaking.
My mother always loved me. She had one thing she would ask; that I do not take illicit drugs.
Our sin nature makes us crave rebellion, even against those we love the most. Knowing drugs were the forbidden fruit, I fell to that temptation before entering highschool.
As with any sin, I would then try to hide my activity with lies. I remember coming home from school and telling my mom I didn’t feel good, so I could just go to my room and lie down. Preventing her from seeing my eyes.
Years later, after turning my life around, I confessed that to her, and she assured me my rouse failed. She knew all along. Parents just do, especially mothers.
I can understand the heartbreak that Samuel would have felt to see his sons turning aside for dishonest gain. (8:3).
Rejecting God
Then to have the elders of Israel call you out on this and ask for a king.
God tells him it isn’t Samuel they are rejecting, but Himself. (8:7).
Fear gripped me when I first accepted the call to preach the gospel. Not for me. I doubted anyone would attack me for sharing the Word of God. Nor was I worried they wouldn’t like me. I never cared about being popular.
I worried that somehow I would mishandle the Word of God and they would reject Him. I would know for eternity that they were in hell because of my inadequate leadership.
My sermons, some excellent and others less so, have shown me the overwhelming power of God to conquer any failing of mine.
I understand the fear when you feel led in your heart to share the gospel. Trust me, no, trust Him. You can’t mess up the work of God.
You may quote a passage incorrectly, or learn that you were wrong in your interpretation. That doesn’t matter. God will still work in their hearts and when they come to faith in Jesus, you will know a joy that surpasses all else.
Accepting failure
Getting back to Samuel, he is told by God the people of Israel were rejecting Him. The devastating truth of that would level me. It was his job to lead the people to God.
If they lost in a battle, it was God’s job to provide the victory or not. If they prospered in growing crops or breeding livestock, that was all in God’s hands.
Samuel’s duty was to lead them to the Lord. God is telling him, “you failed!”.
When my boss tells me he is putting me into a different assignment, that hurts. Noone likes to fail. To fail at the most important assignment in life? Ouch!
Pain or gain
In sales, we use pain and gain questions to create the value in using our solutions. Most of the marketing campaigns focus on the gain, what the product can do for you.
God had already showed for generations what He could do for Israel.
When a gain question doesn’t create value, sales people will go to pain questions. What are you losing if we don’t solve this issue for you?
God instructed Samuel to use this tactic. They’re going to have to live with the repercussions of their decision.
The in crowd
The respond, “we want to be like everyone else.”
So, I never cared about popularity. Being like everyone else seems boring to me. If we were all alike, no one would be special.
Why would we value a friend if we could replace them with a replica?
America is being pushed to be like Europe. Europe has turned away from God and is suffering because of it. Why would we want to follow that example?
Our uniqueness makes us special. God created each of us to be who we are. We should never coalesce into homogeneity.
God anoints leaders
God made Saul stand out. He was taller than the crowd. He had a heart for God, even wondering what to bring to the man of God.
Then He set up circumstances, the lost donkeys, to bring Saul and Samuel together so that He could anoint him as king.
Like Moses, Gideon and many others, Saul can’t comprehend why God would choose him.
God doesn’t choose us because we are special. He does so because He is special. He is holy.
In verse 10:9, “as Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart.” (NIV)
When you take that deep breath and move past your fear to speak, God will change your heart. He did mine. I realized, like Saul, I was trying to hide from the Lord. He is omnipresent, attempting to hide is futile.
