“But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.”
~ 1 Samuel 12:24
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you always have to get your way? How do you feel when you get your way? How do you feel when you do not get your way? Do you think that it is good to always get your way? Do you think that it is good to throw a fit to get your way? Do you think that you know more than what your dad and/or ma know? There came a time when God let His specially chosen guys and gals get their way. After living for about 350 years in the land that God had given to His specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people group’s guys and gals, to always have to live in as their very own land, God’s specially chosen guys and gals finally were able to get their way when God relented to their constant complaining about the fact that they did not have a king. The Israelite people group’s guys and gals thought that they had to have a king because the countries and people groups who neighbored their land area were all ruled by kings. God assigned Samuel – who was His prophet spokesman at the time, to find and to anoint Saul – who was a really tall dude from the Benjamin tribal clan, to be the first king to reign over His specially chosen guys and gals. 1 Samuel 12 has Samuel presenting Saul to God’s specially chosen guys and gals. Samuel used the presentation of Saul to God’s specially chosen guys and gals to let them know that God was letting them get their way. Samuel began by asking God’s specially chosen guys and gals if they had ever seen him steal an ox or donkey or oppress, cheat and/or accept a bribe from a guy. God’s specially chosen guys and gals affirmed Samuel by telling him that they had never seen him doing anything that he should not be doing. Samuel than told God’s specially chosen guys and gals that they – and their ancestors, had over and over again not followed the life rules that God had given them through Moses to obey and follow. God’s specially chosen guys and gals were invariably opting to worship the same manmade inanimate gods that were handmade from clay, wood, stone and metal that their neighboring nations and people groups of guys and gals worshipped instead of just worshipping God. By continually insisting that they had to have a king like the kings that their neighboring nations and people groups of guys and gals had, God’s specially chosen guys and gals were really telling their God that they did not trust Him to care for them. God’s specially chosen guys and gals had Philistine guys from the west and Ammonite guys from the east constantly raiding their land area. God for years had guys called judges fight against the enemies of His specially chosen guys and gals. Because God’s specially chosen guys and gals had become tired of being killed by guys from their neighboring nations and people groups, they thought that having a king reign over them would . . .
How do you think that your Father God felt when He saw His specially chosen guys and gals putting more trust in an earthly king – Saul, instead of putting their trust in Him as their Heavenly King? To demonstrate that He was not happy with the desires of His specially chosen guys and gals to have an earthly king, God sent a heavy rainfall. Because it was the harvest time and the dry season in the area where God’s specially chosen guys and gals were living, to suddenly have it begin to rain was very disconcerting to them. God’s specially chosen guys and gals realized that they had been wrong when they insisted that they had to have an earthly king to protect them from marauding guys from neighboring nations and people groups when they had God’s absolute power to protect them. It was too late. God’s specially chosen guys and gals had a guy who had been anointed who was now their king standing in from of them. Samuel assured God’s specially chosen guys and gals that having an earthly king would not necessarily be a bad thing if they would always put their trust and hope in their Heavenly King to help them. Verse 24 says, “But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.” God then told His specially chosen guys and gals through Samuel that He would completely sweep them away if they continued to persistently do evil by worshipping useless idol gods.
It can be hard not to want to get your own way. There have been times when life would have been easier for your grandmaa and grandpaa if they could have gotten their way. Your grandmaa and grandpaa want to be able to have influence in the lives of guys, gals and kids today just as they had influence in the lives of guys, gals and kids when they lived in Guatemala and Bolivia. Your grandmaa and grandpaa found out after accepting responsibilities at a mission’s headquarters that their lives do not have the same influence today as their lives had when they lived in Guatemala and Bolivia. Your grandpaa would like to be more assertive in pursuing influence at OC International’s headquarters but . . . if your grandpaa pursued influence at this time, your grandpaa is telling his Father God that he does not trust Him to bless your grandmaa and grandpaa in His timeframe to have them have influence again in the lives of guys gals and kids. Your grandmaa and grandpaa are still learning the lessons of patiently waiting for their Father God’s perfect will for their lives. God gave His specially chosen guys and gals life rules through Moses to live by which would please and bless Him. In spite of having God as their Heavenly King leading, protecting and watching over them, God’s specially chosen guys and gals still wanted to do everything their own way – not their Heavenly King’s way. In spite of having God as your Heavenly Father, your grandpaa knows that it is still easy for you to want to have things your way instead of having things your Heavenly Father’s way. Your grandmaa and grandpaa are praying that God – as God the Spirit, will prompt you to live your lives your Heavenly Father’s way.
1 Samuel 12 (507)