Day 20: Have It YOUR Way, But...

1 Samuel 12:12-13

New Living Translation (NLT)

Samuel anoints Saul as king.
Copyright Cook Communications Ministries

¹² “But when you were afraid of Nahash, the king of Ammon, you came to me and said that you wanted a king to reign over you, even though the Lord your God was already your king. ¹³ All right, here is the king you have chosen. You asked for him, and the Lord has granted your request.
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²⁵ But if you continue to sin, you and your king will be swept away.”

Ever have those moments when you want what you want, even though you know it's not what God wants for you? I do, frequently. Sometimes I have to really work hard to accept His will, and not try to justify my own will.

Yeah, the Israelites were having one of those moments when they demanded that they be given a king, so they could be like everybody else. All the other nations had a king, why couldn't they have one? It seemed to escape them that they already had a King to do exactly what they wanted a human to do. They had God as their King, God, who went before them in battle, who provided for them, who loved them! But that wasn't enough. The Israelites were just like most of us mere mortals... They wanted a King they could actually see with their own two eyes. It was just too difficult to keep focused on the invisible between miracles.

So God gave them what they asked for, but He put stipulations on it. He knew they wouldn't continue to keep His commands, which is probably why He chose a Benjamite to be their king in the first place. God had already chosen Judah to be the kingly line in the family. Still, what God gives, God anoints. And God most certainly anointed Saul. 

But the condition was that they had to straighten up and fly right or God would make sure to "sweep away" both they and their king.

Sometimes, when we're acting like pouty children throwing a tantrum for what we want, God will give in to our whining and let us have it. That doesn't mean that it was His will. It just means He's going to teach us a very valuable lesson from it. We can choose which lesson we're going to learn. We can thank God and make sure we serve Him faithfully in response to His acquiescence, in which we've learned a lesson of God's unfailing love despite our foolishness. Or, we can learn a much harder lesson... the lesson that we really aren't smarter than God, we really don't know what's best for us, and that if we'd quit being brats and TRUST Him, we'd be a whole lot better off.

After all, Father does know best.

Day 20: 1 Samuel 3-15

Saul gets rebuked. Providence Lithograph Co.1902{ PD-23}

S: 1 Samuel 15:22-23 (New Living Translation)

22 But Samuel replied, "What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king."

O: I wanted to post this in a different translation than what i have been reading from. i like the way this one is worded more than the other versions. anyway, saul had just fought a battle against the amalekites as God had instructed him, but he only did it half-way. instead of annhilating everything and everyone, he (and his army) spared the king and the best of the spoils of war, insisting that they were for a sacrifice to the Lord. but that is not what God had instructed them to do, and samuel broke the news to saul that he'd been demoted.

A: there is such a lesson to be learned here, and i hope i'll remember it! when God tells us to do something, we'd better not do a half-assed job of it. God isn't going to accept any whiney "but I thought..." type of excuses.  God expects our total obedience, and there are consequences when we decide to hold back just a little for our own reasons.

P: Lord, remind me of this passage when i'm wanting to do things my own way! remind me that you'd rather have my total obedience than for me to do things half way and then try to pass off my disobedience as something that might glorify you... because disobedience NEVER glorifies you. i want to be a woman of integrity before you, God. shape me!