The Upper Room Daily Devotions of Nashville, Tennessee, United States "How Long Will You Grieve?" for Monday, 11 April 2016 with Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:1 Adonai said to Sh’mu’el, “How much longer are you going to go on grieving for Sha’ul, now that I have rejected him as king over Isra’el? Fill your horn with oil, and set out; I will send you to Yishai the Beit-Lachmi, because I have chosen myself a king from among his sons.” 2 Sh’mu’el said, “How can I go? If Sha’ul hears of it, he will have me killed.” Adonai said, “Take a female cow with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to Adonai.’ 3 Summon Yishai to the sacrifice. I will tell you what to do, and you are to anoint for me the person I point out to you.”4 Sh’mu’el did what Adonai said and arrived at Beit-Lechem. The leaders of the city came trembling to meet him and asked, “Are you coming in peace?” 5 He answered, “In peace. I have come to sacrifice to Adonai. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” He consecrated Yishai and his sons and summoned them to the sacrifice. 6 When they had come, he looked at Eli’av and said, “This has to be Adonai’s anointed one, here before him.” 7 But Adonai said to Sh’mu’el, “Don’t pay attention to how he looks or how tall he is, because I have rejected him. Adonai doesn’t see the way humans see — humans look at the outward appearance, but Adonai looks at the heart.” 8 Then Yishai called Avinadav and presented him to Sh’mu’el; but he said, “Adonai hasn’t chosen this one either.” 9 Yishai presented Shammah; again Sh’mu’el said, “Adonai hasn’t chosen this one either.” 10 Yishai presented seven of his sons to Sh’mu’el; but Sh’mu’el told Yishai, “Adonai has not chosen these. 11 Are all your sons here?” Sh’mu’el asked Yishai. He replied, “There is still the youngest; he’s out there tending the sheep.” Sh’mu’el said to Yishai, “Send and bring him back, because we won’t sit down to eat until he gets here.” 12 He sent and brought him in. With ruddy cheeks, red hair and bright eyes, he was a good-looking fellow. Adonai said, “Stand up and anoint him; he’s the one.” 13 Sh’mu’el took the horn of oil and anointed him there in his brothers’ presence. From that day on, the Spirit of Adonai would fall upon David with power. So Sh’mu’el set out and went to Ramah.The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? . . . Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”[1 Samuel 16:1 (NRSV)]
Following God’s instructions, Samuel anointed Saul to be king over Israel. (See 1 Sam 15:1.) Later, Samuel grieved over Saul’s failure to obey God. But God needed Samuel to do his part to anoint a new king. God instructed Samuel to go to Bethlehem to anoint one of Jesse’s sons. Samuel protested when God asked Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul?”
Like Samuel, we are often unable to move on with life after deep disappointments — the break-up of a marriage, the death or injury of a loved one, or the loss of a job and financial stability. We are so busy grieving over what was or what will never be that we are unable to see the new direction God has for us.
Just as God does not judge by the outward appearance of people but rather by the heart, so too God sees to the heart of human life. We may not find happiness in the way the world defines it. But when we truly surrender to God, our greatest desire is to serve God.
In the midst of our deepest disappointments and defeat, God is not finished with us. How long will we grieve? God is ready to help us move forward.
Read more from the author, here."More from Michael Macdonald"
It generally takes two years from the time a writer submits a devotion to when he or she gets to see it in print. So when I see one of my devotions in print, it is like seeing it for the first time, or finding something in the pocket of a coat I haven’t worn in a couple of years.
I was struck by how relevant this devotion was to my family’s life. In the two years since I submitted the devotion, we have suffered some of the exact disappointments I mention as examples of possible disappointments. We have mourned things we had that were taken from us, and have realized that some of our hopes and dreams would never become reality. I know for a certainty that disappointments are a part of every living human’s experience. I hope this devotion was helpful to those who read it today.
I may submit another devotion based on the same scripture sometime in the future. There is not enough space to deal with more than one idea at a time, but there is another aspect of this scripture that I might want to develop. Many times when things do not work out, we assume that we must not have been following God’s plan. We assume that if it was God’s plan, it had to succeed. But the story of God and Saul and Samuel suggest this is not necessarily true. It was God’s plan to anoint Saul. God gave Saul the freedom to thwart God’s plan, and that’s what Saul did. Samuel did everything he could and was following God’s direction and God’s plan—and he was still disappointed.
I find this both sobering and comforting. Sobering, because it means life is complex. Even doing the right thing for the right reason is no guarantee of success. Comforting, because I do not need to take responsibility for every failure. Failure should be a time of introspection and self-examination; but it does not always mean I failed or was unfaithful. Many times the people of Israel did not respond to the message of repentance that God gave to the prophets. That lack of response did not mean the prophets were responsible for the failure. We owe God obedience, not “success."[Michael Macdonald]
The Author: Michael Macdonald (North Carolina, USA)
Thought for the Day: God is waiting for me with the strength to help me move forward.
Prayer: God of hope, help us when we grieve over what has been or what will never be. Thank you for giving us strength to continue even when we feel defeated. Amen.
Prayer focus: Those who feel paralyzed by grief
---------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment