Last week we saw that we shouldn't
fight against the plans of God. It doesn't help as it only
frustrates us and make our lives miserable. We should rather take
hands with God and walk this pathway with Him leading the way. Then
whatever comes our way, we can be assured that He is with us every
step of the way.
Now whilst David was still living
in Philistine, the Philistines gathered together to go to war
against Israel. They gathered together and encamped at Shunem. Saul
was terrified when he saw the army of the Philistines. He
desperately wanted confirmation from the Lord that all will be
fine:
"And when Saul inquired of the
Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or
by the prophets." 1 Samuel 28:6
So when Saul couldn't hear the
voice of the Lord he became even more desperate and sought the
guidance of a spiritual medium. They told him of a woman at Endor.
He immediately went there. What made this quite ironic is that Saul
had banished all mediums and spiritists out of the country, and
here in his moment of need, he turned to one.
Now he came in disguise to the
woman and didn't reveal his identity. He asked her to call up
Samuel for him. And the moment she did, she knew he was Saul. After
putting her at ease, he spoke to Samuel. Samuel confirmed his worst
fear. His end has come. The whole of Israel, the King and his sons
would be delivered into the hands of the Philistines the very next
day. Saul's end has come. Samuel told him that he would be with him
the very next day.
Saul was paralyzed with fear and
fell down on the ground and refused to eat. After some persuasion,
they convinced him to get up and to eat and to 'face the music'. It
was a very dark day for Saul indeed.
I have also witnessed, experienced
and seen Christians getting desperate when they feel that they
don't hear from God. I know of Christians going from 'prophet to
prophet', to hear what God is saying about their future. I know of
Christians who read the star signs every day to determine what is
going to happen in their near future. I know of Christians
believing in the star sign they were born under and building their
whole lives around the 'personality type' that they are according
to their star sign. It is absolute nonsense and God is not pleased.
He wants us to hear directly from Him. That is why Jesus came. He
came so that He could release us from the power of sin and impart
unto us righteousness so that His Holy Spirit can come and live
inside of us. And because He is living on the inside of us, we can
personally hear His voice. We can know what He wants us to do.
But one thing that I have learned
through the years is that God doesn't necessarily show us exactly
where He is leading us. He isn't going to reveal His exact plan and
detail all at once. Step by step He will guide us on the way.
Unfortunately we as humans don't like that. We want to know months
and years ahead and therefore we resort to going to our modern day
'mediums and spiritists'. But look at what happened to Saul. God
doesn't honor that. He wants us close to Him, walking this pathway
with Him. He wants to guide us step by step. We should learn to
take His hand and to walk this pathway and not run ahead of His
perfect timing as we are used to in this rushed world, especially
now during this COVID-19 epidemic. We want to know when all this
will end, we want to know when we can go on with our lives. We want
to desperately see into the future, but we can't. Fortunately we
know the ONE who does. All we need to do is to trust in Him one day
at a time and not fear. He is in control of our lives. We must just
surrender to Him and allow Him to do His perfect work in us.
God knows best, we can trust Him
and His timing. There is no need to run to all sorts of other
people or signs. God will provide all we need to know for the
present moment. And that should be enough for us. He knows it will
not be good for us to know the future. We simply need to take one
step at a time, hand in hand with Him. He will lead us unto the
right paths. All glory to Him on high!
Dearest Father, I am so sorry that
I get so impatient at times, wanting to know my future and to where
You are leading me. I want Your Spirit to consume me to such an
extent that Your patience will overwhelm me, that I can be content
waiting for Your gentle leading hand to guide me. Thank you Jesus
for making it possible to hear Your voice loud and clear. Amen