Have you ever mourned because you thought everything was over? Have you ever thought that things could not get any worse? I know I have and so did the Prophet Samuel. In my Quiet Time yesterday I was reading from 1 Samuel 16 and the first verse reminded me that my ways are not God’s ways. The verse said, “Then the Lord said to Samuel, ‘How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.’” I know sometimes I have trouble because I feel God has called me to something, just to have it all not work out. Samuel must have been devastated, but God was still in charge and had a plan. I mourn for things in the past, how things didn’t go right, questioning God in the process. However, God has better things in store for us. He has allowed us to go through the ‘God forsaken’ times all the while leading us to the purpose of His plan. Obviously Samuel did not see David coming, everything about David was wrong to Samuel, yet David became the best King Israel has ever had.
I need to remember this story especially now with everything I have gone through and going through. God has a plan, better than the one I have. His ways are not my ways, and though it would have been easier if Saul could have just been the one or for God to have just waited for David, God had to teach Israel something. He had to prepare them. What is God preparing me for?
Also, I need to remember that God paraded each of Jesse’s sons in front of Samuel and each time Samuel thought that son was ‘the one,’ but he wasn’t. I know I often have the same feelings about things that happen in life. I think whatever is in front of me is the best possible solution for the problem I am, but God has different plans. God told Samuel, “For the Lord does not see as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (16:7). Even though God said this about the sons of Jesse, I think this applies to what I’m going through as well. God sees the heart of matter, and He may parade opportunity after opportunity right in front of my face, however, I must wait upon Him. The package may not be pretty and I may have preferred one of the others, however, God knows best. His ways are perfect, even when the situation is not.
David was not perfect and I cannot expect for the situations God places me in to be perfect either, however, David is still to be called a man after God’s own heart. And even though my situations may not be perfect, they may still be what God has called me too. I just need to be patient and see who/what God brings before me.
So what I can learn from this is that when I feel God is leading me one way and then everything seems to mess up, it doesn’t mean that it wasn’t from God or that I was wrong, but rather that He is preparing me for something better and I just need to patient. It’s so easy for me to resort to Samuel’s state of mind and mourn and then think that every opportunity that comes by is the right one. But I need to remember to get up and go and see what God has in store for me next.
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