Hiding from God's Call

 

Scripture

 1 Samuel 10:17-27

¹⁷ Samuel summoned the people to the Lord at Mizpah ¹⁸ and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ ¹⁹ But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses; and you have said, ‘No! but set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.”

²⁰ Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. ²¹ He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its families, and the family of the Matrites was taken by lot. Finally he brought the family of the Matrites near man by man, and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. ²² So they inquired again of the Lord, “Did the man come here?” and the Lord said, “See, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” ²³ Then they ran and brought him from there. When he took his stand among the people, he was head and shoulders taller than any of them. ²⁴ Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see the one whom the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

²⁵ Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship; and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people back to their homes. ²⁶ Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went warriors whose hearts God had touched. ²⁷ But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” They despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.  (NRSV)

Devotion

King Saul is a tragic figure.  Sadly, modern Christians don't tend to pay much attention to him except to use him as a foil for his successor David.  Saul has his own lessons to teach us...and those lessons begin long before David enters the picture.  So let's take a minute to see what we can take away from the story of his rise to power.

Saul was the first King of Israel--chosen by God and anointed by Samuel to to rule over the people just as the elders of the tribes had asked.  Today's reading begins after Saul has been identified by God and anointed by Samuel.  Saul has even fallen into a prophetic frenzy that demonstrated that the Spirit of the HOly One is indeed upon him.  Now, the moment has come for Samuel to go through the ritual that will announce Saul's kingship to the people.  All the tribes of Israel have gathered to find out who God has chosen to lead them.  And that is when Saul decides to hide.  Surely if they people can't find him, God will choose someone else to be King of Israel.

Why does Saul try to hide from his calling?  I think it is because he doesn't feel up to the task.  After all, the position of kingship came with great power...but also with great responsibility.  Saul doesn't believe that he will be up to the challenge.  He also evidently doesn't trust that God will give him what he needs to  do the job well.  It is easier to run and hide in hopes that God will appoint another.

How often are we like Saul...hiding from God's call in hopes that the Almighty will pick someone else to do the job that we have been chosen to do?  Many pastors and chaplains, including myself, have stories about how we tried to deny that we were called to ordained ministry.  We tried to be teachers or fundraisers or biologists.  We tried to be anything other than the faith leaders that we felt God calling us to be.  We were sure that we weren't up to the challenge of doing the work that God had set before us.  There had to be people better and more qualified than us.  And so we ran and hid ourselves away by pursuing other endeavors...ones that were not less worthwhile but that were not what God wanted us to do with our lives.  I hear similar stories from people involved in  all kinds of field.  From educators and medical workers and mission workers and volunteers for certain programs.  At times it feels as if the entire world is hiding from what God calls us to do.

The Good (and Challenging) News is that God does not let us hide from our calls for long.  Instead, God pursues us...finding us wherever we have hidden ourselves away and bringing us back to what what are supposed to be doing.  Sooner or late, we discover that there is no hiding from God--that the Almighty's plans for us will be dragged into the light and held up for everyone to see.

When we finally accept God's call, there will those rejoice with us as well as those who questions why on Earth God would choose us for the task at hand.  Still, we can hold our peace, trusting that God will give us everything we need to step into the role that God has assigned us.  And as long as we keep trusting in God and obeying God's commands, we cannot fail to accomplish what the Holy One of Israel has planned for us.

Prayer

For today's prayer, I would like you to take a few deep breaths and clear your mind.  Then, push play on the video below.  As the music plays, think of something you feel called to do yet afraid to start. Tell God about your fears and concerns.  Ask God to give you the courage to answer your call as well as the help you need to accomplish the task before you.  End this time of prayerful mediation by visualizing yourself living into the call that God has placed on your heart.