Struggling for My Way

Sometimes I just have to laugh and shake my head when I think of all the times, all the ways I have tried to make things turn out my way. I am proof that our God is a patient God. I get this idea in my head that I know the way things should go or what is best, and then I struggle, stress, and fight to try to make it happen.

There have been a few times when God let me have what I thought I wanted. It did not turn out well, not well at ALL. God has a history of giving His people what they say they want. Look at the people of Israel when they asked for a king.

"The Lord said to Samuel, 'Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them.'" (1 Samuel 8:7)

God had Samuel warn the people of the consequences and then let them have what they said they wanted.

"And they said to him (Samuel), 'Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.'" (1 Samuel 8:5)

The people of Israel had a very real problem. Samuel's sons, who were to take over as judges of Israel after Samuel, were corrupt and "perverted justice." A solution was needed because Samuel was getting old. So the elders got together, as many of us would do, and they came up with a solution. But where did the solution come from?

"Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations." (1 Samuel 8:5)
The elders looked at what other nations had and what seemed to be working for them. They then concluded that they wanted the same thing. This makes logical sense, "If it works for them it should work for us."

"But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, 'Give us a king to judge us.' Samuel prayed to the Lord." (1 Samuel 8:6)
Samuel dealt with the problem he was faced with differently. He prayed and God answered.

When I think about this account, I think about what we so often base our choices on, what we look at when we set our goals or chose a solution to a problem. We look at the world, the other guy, what seems to be working someplace else. According to the world, these are all reasonable, logical things to do, but we are not of this world. Like the Israelites we are called to be holy and set apart. God is our King. Our first step in any situation should be to pray to Him. If we take seriously the commitment for God to be our Lord and Savior, then shouldn't our first step be to find out what His orders are?