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.' I Samuel 10:19
Hi Everyone,
It’s me again. A couple of days ago I was reading in 1 Samuel 8 where the children of ISREAL ask for a king. Saul warns them that the king will shatter all that they have, but they are completely fixated on having a king. Then in chapter 10:19, Samuel again says, "But today you have rejected God and insisted on a king," and the people’s response can basically be paraphrased as, YIPPEE! Where is he? I thought about a number of things:
God went to a lot of trouble and secured someone tremendously appealing that would be highly attractive to the people; appealing to the eyes!!! Genesis...sound familiar?
It would be far simpler to have someone just lay out a plan and say, "Cari, do this and that." Intimacy with God takes practice and a whole lot of faith because it forces us to stay in today and be guided just one step a head.
I’m also struck by the reason they wanted a king. It was the popular way; everybody else was doing it; they wanted to fit in with the crowds versus being different and surrendered to God.
It was also about immediate satisfaction. They did not care about consequences to themselves or their kids, or that they would become slaves (1 Samuel 7:11-18). This was probably the most daunting. I remember 25 years ago saying, "God if you will just give me a female, I will be happy or else I’m going to die." God allowed me to have what I wanted for a season and, at some point, I thought He answered my fallen prayer. He did. But through it all, He brought me to my knees as my life was shattered. What lorded over me plundered my life. God will sometimes, out of our rebellion, allow what we want. However, we can be grossly deceived in believing that the desire was birthed out of intimacy with Him, when in actuality it is birthed out of deep rebellion.
I realized that my problem - and the problem of the children of Israel - was a lack of true intimacy; a subtle deception that if we just talk to God, all is well. However, true intimacy for me is when I allow Him to talk to me and be Lord. Otherwise it is simply one-sided demands, as if God is just there to serve me and my desires. Even God gets disgusted and will eventually say, "Okay, here you go." It was very scary to me to ponder this. I realized I can be deceived by my own prayers if they are simply the result of my own heart and not led by His spirit. Quite a bit to think about.
Much love,
Cari