Saturday, April 22: 1Samuel 10- Sad day in Israel.

One would think that the anointing of a king would be a great and wonderful day. But not so for Israel. The anointing of Saul as king was a dark day. The people may not have realized it, but God made it clear to them. Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the LORD at Mizpah and said to them, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’ But you have now rejected your God, who saves you out of all your disasters and calamities. And you have said, ‘No, appoint a king over us.’ So now present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and clans.” (17-19).

The Lord gave them what they wanted, but sadly what they wanted was not God’s best.

This got me thinking about my prayers.  Do I ever beg God for what I want, without asking the deeper question, ‘Is this what the Lord wants?’ Oh, the heartaches that come when we beg God for things that are not His best for us.

I have heard some people talk about God’s permissive will verses His perfect will. This is certainly an example of permissive vs best will. Hezekiah's extra 15 years may be another example. After all, Manasseh was 12 when Hezekiah died and he became king. This means Manasseh, one of the worst kings in Israel’s history, would never have been born if Hezekiah’s life wasn’t extended by the Lord. 

As much as I may want something at a particular moment, I do not want my will or desire to ever take precedence over the Lord’s good and perfect will for my life. For this to be true I must continually surrender my will to the Lord’s will, something Israel was never truly able to do.

Oh, God, I pray for the strong presence of Your Holy Spirit in me. Teach me, Lord, to listen and OBEY the Spirit’s leading always. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen

 

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