Trusting God

-


Scripture

1Sam. 10:21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the family of the Matrites was taken by lot. Finally he brought the family of the Matrites near man by man, and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found.
1Sam. 10:22 So they inquired again of the LORD, “Did the man come here?” and the LORD said, “See, he has hidden himself among the baggage.”
1Sam. 10:23 Then they ran and brought him from there. When he took his stand among the people, he was head and shoulders taller than any of them.

Observation

The people of Israel had cried out that they wanted a king.  This was not God's intention for the people and yet, he listened to their cries and found them a king.  Saul was to become their king.  Samuel had met up with him a week before this particular meeting.  Saul knew that he had been chosen by God to become the leader of the people of Israel.  Here he was a big, strong, strapping young man who knew that God wanted him to become king.  Samuel had told him where they would meet the following week and now the time of the meeting had come.  Saul, having all of this information, went and hid among the baggage! 

Application

Obviously Saul had trouble trusting God.  He had plenty of information that day that should have allowed him to have the strength and courage needed to stand up before that crowd of people and accept his responsibility.  Not only did he have the promise of God, he had the physical strength and prowess as well.  People looked up to him, both literally and physically.  And yet, he was hiding away in the baggage.

God creates each and every single one of us with his purposes in mind.  We are created to be a reflection of Christ to this world, and each one of us is infused with talents and abilities, not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of God.  There are moments when we are called into action by God.  He says, "now is the time that I need you to bring everything that I have put into you and allow me to use you."  The question is -- do we trust God when we get that call?  Or, do we take God's talents and abilities and hide them somewhere because of our own fear.  Maybe it's a fear of failure.  Who knows what Saul's fear was that day.  From our perspective it looks like a no brainer in terms of trusting God.  Maybe that's the way it ought to be in our lives too -- a no brainer to trust God.

God is wanting to use his people in ways much greater than any of us could ever imagine.  Are we limiting God's ability to work in this world by not affirming the abilities he has placed within us?  Are we simply not trusting God and hiding out, hoping he won't call on us to use what he has given us for him?  We are not gifted for our own personal benefit.  We are gifted to give glory to God.  Therefore there ought not to be fear in moving forward and trusting him.  We must stop hiding ourselves, get up, and get going with God. 

Prayer

Lord, help me to trust in you every moment of every day and may you use me to accomplish your work here on this earth.  Amen.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a ti...
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her ...
Read more

On Grief and A Flute Player

-
Scripture: Matt. 9:23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, Matt. 9:24 he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. Matt. 9:25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. Matt. 9:26 And the report of this spread throughout that district. Observation: This is a simple story which we have heard or read numerous times. Jesus heals the little girl and the people rejoice. But at the moment in which he arrives at the home he encounters the professional mourners. These are the flute players, the ones who have come to make a great noise about the child’s death. It is the flute player that testifies to the fact that she is truly dead. Also, flutes were generally employed when it came to the death of a child. The whole community would therefore understand that it is a child who has died in this home. The flute player is doing the job they have ...
Read more