Sometime in the last decade of twentieth century, a young pastor who was a fresh graduate from a renowned seminary was assigned to shepherd an old church in a remote village. The church was founded and built sometime in the late nineteenth century, and that makes the church about a century old. The young pastor was surprised to notice that every time the congregation sings hymnals they face the eastern wall of the church interior, while holding their open hymnal books. This practice puzzled the pastor, which prompted him to investigate what was the origin of the baffling practice. He came to learn that there still is a living church member, a woman, who is already over ninety years of age. The pastor wasted no time to find the old woman and found her in her home. She was ill and bed-ridden, almost near to death. Normally, people of that age have unreliable memory but this old woman seemed sharp in her retention.
The pastor, after his gesture of respect and introductory words of courtesy, with gentle words, asked the old woman what could be the reason that the congregation faces the eastern wall of the church interior every time a hymnal is sung. The old lady answered in a muttering aged voice, "Young boy, I can only recall that we did not have hymnal books since I was a small girl, so we scribble the hymns on a broad sheet of paper and paste them on the eastern wall of the church interior". And it has been that way since. Sometimes, it takes an intervention of a seemingly insignificant figure to solve a problem.
Samuel, the prophet and priest of God, had a problem. Saul, the people’s king was rejected by God on the basis of his disobedience, justifying his transgression with silly pragmatism. Eventually, Israel is experiencing defeat from the hands of the Philistines. The people of God are in need of a king that is approved of God. The Lord ordered Samuel to go to Bethlehem, in the home of Jesse, to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the new king. Samuel might have had some expectations of how the man would look like. He could have envisioned that the man he is going to anoint king over Israel would be much taller and he-man looking than Saul, the rejected one. But this time, God’s intervention was totally in contrast to Samuel’s expectations.
How often we come into a difficult situation that we are trapped in helplessness and we desperately implore God to intervene in a miraculous way. At times we want God to intervene with His power just like the time of Noah’s rain to quench our thirst and satisfy the yearnings of our souls. Sometimes we demand that God intervene with the fire of Sodom and Gomorrah that would annihilate our enemies and keep us entrenched within His omnipotent protection. How often, we want God to intervene like the Sinai wind and fire that blows and burns our fears and doubts, calmly leaving us within His secure peace. Oh, how we wish that God would intervene like the wilderness earthquake that would jolt our adversaries’ hearts and make them comply with our standards. But that is not always the case.
In the situation of Samuel, we can learn some important points that God’s interventions to solve our dilemma and rectify our situations are not always according to our expectations.
Proposition:
1. God’s Simple Solutions are Often Strange
2. God’s Surprising Promotions are Usually Sudden
3. God’s Sovereign Selections are Always Sure
These three lessons could be extracted from the experience of Samuel when he went to Bethlehem, in the house of Jesse, to anoint David, the new king over Israel.
1. God’s Simple Solutions are Often Strange – Let us be Observant
Every one of us has the tendency to anticipate what God would do to solve our problems. We even claim by faith what we want done, and suffice our emotions appeased by it. But often, God doesn’t work the way we want Him to. More often than not:
a. God’s simple solutions are Different from our Ardent Anticipations.
Samuel must have expected to anoint a he-man, with bulging muscles on his biceps and triceps; a solid chest and layered abs. But no, he was wrong. He must have pictured a man that would out-muscle Saul. It turned out in the end that it was David, the youngest of Jesse’s sons – cute and ruddy better fit for a youth choir in a wedding ceremony. We may get something different from what we ask from God. But for sure what God will give us would be much better than what we have desired and prayed for. He supplies us all our needs, not merely our wants.
b. God’s simple solutions Demand our Active Participation.
Samuel had to wait. God’s timing is perfect and He is never late or in needless advance. David was still tending his sheep in the wilderness. You can just imagine Samuel, God’s prophet and priest, hosting a catwalk, or a fashion show, with seven male models passing in front of him consecutively, flexing their muscles and showing their best posture. How irrelevant task for a priest and prophet could it be. How often, when we face a difficult situation, we tend to complicate things with our anticipations and inactions, while we expect God to intervene in a spectacular manner making our life much easier.
Illustration:
A man, who is a churchgoer since boyhood from a remote village went to his town one day and saw advertisements and billboards along the highway. He saw advertisements endorsing a brand of dairy products – milk, cheese, yoghurt and others. He was absolutely mesmerized by the models in the ad and was totally engrossed by the proclaimed health benefits of the products. When he went back to his village he feverishly prayed that God will supply all of those to him within a short span of time. He claimed it by faith and expectantly waited. One night, he boldly told God in his prayer, "Lord I want the answer to my prayers tomorrow morning when I wake up". He woke up the next morning and found his cow untied and grazing in his front yard munching his beans and crushing his young corn. He found no milk, cheese and yoghurt around. In his dismay that God did not give him what he asked, he butchered his cow and made steak, beef soup and other beef-based menu. He called all his neighbors and they had a buffet. He did not realize God’s simple solutions that only needed a little bit of his participation. His cow was the embodiment of all the answers to his prayers – the fresh milk, cheese and the yoghurt.
How often we unwittingly brush aside God’s simple solutions to our problems because of our laziness and self-centeredness, expecting God to move according to our own terms. Let us be observant; be discerning so as not to ignore God’s simple solutions, which are often strange.
2. God’s Surprising Promotions are Usually Sudden – Let us be Vigilant
Samuel and David were both caught up in an absurd situation. They both seem unprepared for this momentous event of anointing a new king over Israel. Samuel might have been a bit doubtful upon seeing the features of David. David, too, was probably dumbfounded by the presence of Samuel with all his macho brothers. All eyes were on David. Samuel’s eyes of scrutiny; his seven brothers’ eyes of prejudice and his father’s eyes of astonishment, probably, disbelief that his youngest son, childish and immature, is the one that God chose to become their king. There are a couple of points that we need to consider before we can expect promotion from God:
a. We must get rid of our fears.
Prior to Samuel’s journey to Bethlehem we can read that he feared Saul. He had a reservation that Saul might learn of what he is going to do in Bethlehem – anointing a new king. And that would threateningly put his neck on the loop. We all have fears. And fear is the one thing that hinders us from venturing into taking God at is word. We must have the word of God as our manual in overcoming our own fears.
Illustration:
Two young hikers went on trek to the Bear Mountain one day. They’ve undergone orientation from their instructors, learned survival procedures in the event that a bear chase them. They brought with them their survival manuals, just to make sure they won’t forget anything they learned. Confident and enthusiastic, they gleefully started their trek. They reached a creek with a non-so-elevated falls where a female bear was hunting for her trout lunch. The hungry bear spotted the two hikers and chased them. One of the two immediately reached into the pocket of his backpack groping for the survival manual. "Here it is", he said. "Can you remember on which page is it mentioned?", he asked his friend. "Page 13 paragraph 3. I already read it three times", his friend answered. But the scared hiker asked his friend again, "I believe you had read it three times, but do you think that huge bear had read the manual at least once?"
b. We must get ripe with our faith.
God commanded Samuel to offer sacrifices and he did, as an act of his faith and obedience to God. He went to Bethlehem with all the necessary materials to anoint a new king – the horn, which was used as a sacred oil container in that time; the anointing oil, which was a choice of special oil, press and processed according to divine instructions; and a heifer, which will be offered as a sacrifice to God. The elders of Bethlehem were all present. Faith that is ripe in a servant of God always breeds authority and unity among the people. Samuel’s faith resulted to a community faith in Bethlehem that day. But faith is best tested, not in good times but in bad times.
Illustration:
Jean Francois Gravelet Blondin was a famous tight-rope walker in the late nineteenth century. He made successive feats and amazed lots of people in Europe and America. He was perfect in his performance. But what paints a picture of faith are not his remarkable feats. It was when his manager, Harry Colcord, braved to be carried on Jean Francois’ back crossing a tight trope.
Faith is not venturing to do what we know we can undoubtedly do. Faith, in its sense, is braving to do something that we have not done at all and doing it with great trust and unfazed confidence in God. Fear will always linger but faith will always conquer. God’s surprising promotions come at a time when we less expected them.
3. God’s Sovereign Selections are Always Sure – Let us be Compliant
It is not that easy to rely on something that we cannot clearly and fully understand. That’s human. I agree. But the world moves, not according to our dictates. We examine a thing or an idea before we treat them valid. We interview people and check their credentials before we give them a chance to join our ministry team. That’s okay. I do the same. But things cannot be evaluated that way all the time. People cannot be measured in that process always. God holds the final say. There are a couple of reminders that we need to consider:
a. We must be Resilient to our Situations.
Nobody wants to be in a situation that gets into his or her nerve and disturbs every chore of the day. We want things unfold the way we please. Samuel was in a similar situation. He feared for his life. Saul might come and mercilessly kill him if Saul would know that he had anointed a new king. Verse 4 of 1 Samuel 16 will somehow implies a relational problem with the townspeople of Bethlehem. They feared Samuel. But they all became resilient to their situation on the basis of a sacrifice to God. We may have been confined into unpleasant situations of different kinds, but the common ground where unity and harmony are achieved is the place of sacrifice to God. The question that tops all other questions is "Is it God’s will or just our own will?".
b. We must be Obedient to God’s Instructions.
How numerous are the counsel from people around us that, more often than not, would only complicate the matter. A number of godly counselors are definitely beneficial to arrive at a decision. In the world, they say, "many cooks spoil the sauce". With regards to obedience there is no word that is more authoritative than the word of God. The question that matters is, "Is it God’s word or just man’s intelligent words".
Illustration:
Arabic horses are famous for their training in obedience. Their trainers will get them running hungry and thirsty in the scorching deserts until they are really tired, hungry and thirsty. On that situation, their trainers take them to a shade, a pool of cool water with green fodders. This would be the final test of their obedience. Usually, a hungry, tired and thirsty animal would rush to the water and quench its thirst but the Arabic horses would not even get closer to the water or the food. They wait until their trainers give them permission to.
True obedience is tested in times when we are prompted to choose between what we think is right and what God says is right.
Conclusion:
Are you in a situation that requires an intervention from God, because as you see it there is no possible solution? Be Observant.
Are you in a level of life that promises no improvement, because as you see it there is nothing more to prove? Be Vigilant.
Are you in a crossroad of 2 or more options but so confused which one is God-approved? Be Compliant.
