To Encourage You

1 Samuel 8:18-20 “’And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.’ But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, ‘No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.’”

You’ve heard the saying “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”  You’ve also heard the saying, “Be careful what you wish for.”  Both relate to the passage above.  Israel, at this time in their history, was different from all the nations around them in that they were not ruled by a human king.  God was their king, and He had ordained that His reign would be by way of judges that He would direct to counsel Israel in their ways.  Samuel was the last of these judges, but now he was old, and Samuel’s sons, who were next in line, were corrupt.  The elders looked at this situation and decided it was time for a change.  This process of government, which God had ordained, wasn’t working out like they wanted.  So, they looked around for an alternative.  They asked themselves, “How does everyone else do things?”  The answer: “Everyone else has an earthly king.”  They all had mighty leaders, with pomp and glory.  They weren’t led by humble prophets, like Samuel, or bad judges, like Samuel’s sons. No, they all had something better, or so it seemed. 

Of course, they were speaking in ignorance, because they didn’t really understand what it was like “on the other side of the fence,” but from their perspective, that side of the fence just looked better.  But another thing they didn’t understand and didn’t see was that they already had a king, and His kingdom was far more glorious than the kingdoms of this world.  He was sovereign over every situation in their lives, whether it was by way of the sound counsel of someone like Samuel, by which they were blessed, or the unwise and corrupt counsel of Samuel’s sons, by way of a test.  But they failed this test, as had been their history, and they looked to this world for their answers rather than to God.  And so, they were given what they wanted.  Their minds were made up. Their way was set. And the Lord “gave them up to (their) dishonorable passions” (Romans 1:26), just like He will do to us if we force His hand.  And yet He warns us, just as He warned Israel.  He told them that they would end up being slaves of the king they would choose (1 Samuel 8:17).  He would take the best of everything they had.  They would regret the choices they had made, but if they were bound and determined to go that way, the Lord would let them go.  And so, they did. 

If you are a believer and things aren’t going so well, are you looking to the “other side of the fence” for something better?  Are you questioning why, if God loves you, that this or that is happening to you? Are you tempted to look at what others around you are doing, including those who know nothing of God? Or are you continuing to look up to the King of kings and Lord of lords.  You see, if you are a child of God, you are right this moment, in a kingdom.  Not only that, but you are part of that kingdom, blessed beyond measure, the child of the King.  No matter how things seem, His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts above our thoughts like the heavens are above the earth (Isaiah 55:9). 

May God help us to trust Him and follow His ways, rather than look to the ways of everyone else that might seem, for one reason or another, to be better.  The narrow way of the King of heaven is the way of Life, and the broad ways of the prince of this world and the kingdoms of this world will inevitably lead to destruction.  So, be careful what you wish for, for if what you wish for is not of God, you will one day certainly regret that you’ve received the very thing for which you’ve wished.