During my free I enjoy watching TV, I just love animal documentaries. What I like about them is that they take me much closer to nature than I can ever go myself. There are a lot of things that I would not have known if it wasn't for these documentaries. I want to encourage you to watch them; you will learn a lot about nature.
One day I was watching a certain documentary about Baboons and I was stunned by what I saw. I saw Baboons walking around with dead babies on their back. The mother Baboon would still love and care for its baby as if it is alive. When the lifeless baby falls down, the Baboon would just pick it up and throw it on its back again. It walks around with it until it reaches the state of decomposition; when it began to literally fall apart. Some would even go to the extent of trying to put the decomposed pieces together. I wondered to myself, is there something wrong with their sense of smell. Decomposing flesh stinks. Honestly, I believe there is. Only at a time when it becomes impossible to carry it, because of its advanced state of decomposition, only then would it leave the remains and move on.
Even when I could clearly see that this baby would not grow and be a part of the mother's life. The mother was not willing to let go, in fact, she was actually willing to live with the decaying baby on her back. I failed to understand this. I want to suggest to you that these Baboons and the Prophet Samuel we have just read about today have a number of things in common. Something didn't work the way they both expected, they were very much disappointed, they could not do anything to change what had happened and they simply could not let go of it. This may not only be the Baboon's struggle, it may also not only be Samuel's struggle, but it may also be our struggle too. This is what has led us to our theme today; when disappointed JUST LET IT GO.
It all started when the Israelites requested for a king. They wanted to have a king over them simply because they just wanted to be like other nations. This, being their sole reason, God was not pleased with it. God himself was their king, but now they want someone else to rule over them. But nevertheless, God graciously grants their request.
Through Samuel, Saul becomes king over Israel and people were very happy. Things began to take a turn in the wrong directing when Saul was sent by God to destroy the Amalekites. God had a personal problem with these people he wanted them to be completely destroyed and considered Saul was the one to do it. When he was given the mission, Saul did not do as instructed, he spared same animals because they were good and also the Agag the King of the Amalekites; I can easily understand why he speared some animals, but I struggle to understand why he spared the king. Agag must have been really handsome.
As a result, God was disappointed with Saul. The Bible says " . . . And the Lord was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel" 1 Samuel 15:35. This does not mean God has just realised that he has made a mistake and is sorry about it, he didn't know that things would turn out like this. Numbers: 23:19 (KJV), "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" This means, however, that God was not happy with Saul and he had to dispose him. Repenting to men is a response to their sins and to God it is the same, a response to men's sins.
Back to our story, God was disappointed with Saul and so was Samuel. Samuel was so disappointed that he mourned for Saul. It didn't end there; he never went to see him again until the day he died. If you see people who have been friends, who have assisted one another in life cutting off their relationship like this, it shows the complexity of the matter.
But why was Samuel so disappointed that much? God had not rejected him. This is very true! God had not rejected Samuel, but remember that it was Samuel who brought Saul to the people of Israel. God introduced Saul to Samuel and Samuel introduced Saul to the people. Saul was accepted by the people based on Samuel's recommendation. Now, if you recommend me for a certain position in an organisation and suppose I go there and perform wonders. How would you feel? You would feel great and happy. Let’s turn the table around, what if I then go there and make a mess of everything I touch. How would you feel? Not good because it affects your reputation also. I believe there was a similar kind of attachment between the two. Saul's success was also Samuel's success and Saul's failure was also Samuel's failure.
Samuel had expectations, but the problem was, they were never met. He expected Saul to be a successful leader, but it didn't work out that way, and as a result he was disappointed and he never wanted to see him again. Samuel's expectations were not met. This is the greatest problem with expectations, sometimes they are not met. Things don't always go the way we expect. Like it did with the mother Baboon I mentioned earlier on and with Samuel also; they both ended up with something that they never wanted and at the same time, they could not change it.
Think about your father, maybe it’s your mother, or your sister, your brother or your friend; you never thought s/he would do that to you. But s/he did. Maybe you have been a disappointment yourself; disappointment not only to yourself and also to other. You never thought you would do something like that. They all had high hopes for you and now you are very worried that you have let your loved ones down. Just as the mother baboon expected her baby to grow, but it never did, Samuel expected Saul to be a successful leader, but he never was; we also have an expectation that was shattered and never come to anything in life. And when this happens we end up very disappointed, in a situation we don't like. What complicates it further is that we can't do anything to change it.
Because of something that had already happened, Samuel could not change it no matter how much he wanted to, his only option was to sit down wishing it had not happened. We all can identify ourselves with Samuel, when things go the other way in life we do regret. If we lost a loved one, failed an examination, dumped by a boy/girlfriend, missed an opportunity; no one in his right mind will rejoice in front of shattered dreams. Mourning for Saul is a way of offloading the weight of what is no our hearts. It was at a time like this that God comes to Samuel with a question. 1 Samuel 16:1, "How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?" Here, God is not worried by the fact that Samuel is morning. No! He is concerned about morning for "THIS LONG." Hence the question, for how long will you continue to mourn?
As I was thinking about this, I remembered Ecclesiastes 3:1 ff, "To everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven . . . a time to be born, and a time to die . . . a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance . . . a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing . . . " This, to me is the reason why God expected Samuel to gather himself together at a certain point in his journey of life and stop mourning.
I have come today to ask you the same question. How long will you mourn for Saul? I know you have nothing to do with King Saul in the story we read today, but look into your own life you have your own Saul. Yes, you do. There is something or someone who disappointed you at a certain point in life, maybe you were abused by the people you had trusted, maybe it’s an examination that you failed, or it’s your husband or wife who left you for someone else. I can go on and on, but the point is we, all have disappointments, unmet expectation in life, situations that we don’t like and can't change. And the sad thing is that ever since it happened some of us are still mourning up to this day.
For how long will you continue holding on to that? I know it's painful and it's not easy, how could they do that to you? . . . But for how long will you continue to mourn for your Saul? The problem with morning for Saul is that it keeps you looking back, regretting why things turned out the way they did. In other words, you will not be living in the present but in the past. People who mourn for Saul TOO long will never progress in life simply because they are continuously frustrated with past events that they went through in life. Those who drive cars will tell you that when you sit on the driver's seat you will be facing four glasses right in front of you. Inside the car, a little above you in the centre there is a small glass and two other small ones (rear-view mirrors) on both doors on the outside and one big clear one (windscreen). Do you know the reason why the windscreen is much bigger than the others? It because where you are going (your future) is far much more important than where you are coming from (your past). If you are going to get somewhere in life, you need to keep your eye on the windscreen. So when you drive your car you don't concentrate on the rear-view mirrors, but on the windscreen which shows you were you are going (your future).
No wonder why there is too much frustration in your life, you continuously bump into others, miss turn and hurt yourself more. This is because you are driving your life focusing on the rear-view mirrors (your past). The reason why the small ones (rear-view mirrors) are there is that, where you are coming from (your past) can actually help you get to where you are going (your future) safely. All you need to do is to learn from your past and your mistakes and move on with your life because God has more planned for you that you have seen. 1 Corinthians 2:9 " . . . Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things God hath prepared for them that love him." A story is told of how painful life events and disappointments can end up for our good. Just as it is written Romans 8:28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that loves God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” After his butcher shop was robbed four times in one month, William Levine bought a bulletproof vest just to protect himself. Other business people in the area began asking him where they could get a vest like his. He began taking orders as a side line for his friends and today he is out of the butchery business and is a full-time president of Body Armor International. He supplies forth sales representatives and selling five to six hundred vests a month. Thank God he got robbed! Disappointments themselves don't always get the last laugh.
The goodness of God is, he can use broken things for his glory. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken cloud to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is Peter weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever. Don't be stuck in unpleasant events of life. There is something good that can come out of your brokenness and disappointments. Just trust God for that.
A close look at 1 Samuel 16:1, show that when Samuel was still mourning for Saul, God was busy looking for a replacement. God was already thinking and acting about the future. " . . . fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided me with a king among his sons,” Holding on to past disappointments will close your eyes to what God is doing in the present. You will miss new opportunities that come your way. God is already planning something far much better for you. Stop feeling sorry for yourself; get up, cheer up! Lift your head high God has something cooking for you.
This is why the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3:13 " Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before."
It is for this reason that I want to suggest to you today that whenever you are disappointed just let it go. Holding on to it will not in any way benefit your future. Hear me well; I am not just trying to simplify things here. I know, sometimes it’s really hard to let go of some issues because of the weight they carry. But look at it this way, what has happened, has happened and we can't change it, there is nothing we can do about it. If you can change it please, by all means, do that! But, if you can't, then, please don't be like a mother baboon or Samuel; JUST LET IT GO. It will do you much good in the long run.
Past disappointments can be like a decaying baby Baboon; it produces a really bad odour. If I walk around with a dead decaying rat in my packet; who would want to spend time with me? I guessed right: no one. If you continue to carry something that disappointed you in the past, something you can't change you will become unpleasant to live around and most people would not enjoy spending time with you.
As I was sitting down watching the animal documentary, all I just wanted to do was to get into that TV and shout into the Baboon’s ears four words "PLEASE LET IT GO!" If I had any opportunity to talk to Samuel the day Saul was rejected I would have said four words to him "PLEASE LET IT GO." All I have been saying the past 30 minutes is that holding on to you past disappointments and things you can't change is not helpful in any way. It hinders your progress and increases your chances of missing what God is getting ready to do in your life. When disappointed JUST LET IT GO, God is up to something good for you. May God help us to live according to his word. AMEN.
