When God Give Us What We Want


1 Samuel 8:10-22
10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him.
11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.
12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.
13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.
15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.
16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work.
17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.
18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us,
20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord.
22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

Our ability to reject God seems to know no bounds. Even when God outlines the negative consequences of our choices we can dig in and declare that we have a better way, demanding that God give us what we want and believe we need.

Many, many years ago, I dealt with a person who was determined to leave their spouse; absolutely determined because, “God would want me to be happy, right?” (By the way, it does not say that in the Bible anywhere!) Despite words and prayers of advice against such a decision, they did divorce their spouse and leave behind children, home, and a life full of blessing. The next few years were filled with not one but two other marriages, broken relationships with children, job loss, and ultimately a bout of terrible ill health. In the midst of all the pain, this person actually said at one point, “I should have never left my first marriage. That was a mistake.” Regrets are difficult.

This is rather an extreme (albeit true) example, but presses the point very plainly. When we tell God His plan is not for us and demand that He step aside and let us run things, we are on the road to pain. In Romans 1:24-25, we see Paul’s explanation of this principle.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

When God gives you over to the sin you desire the consequences can be dire. For the people of God found in our reading for today the situation is much the same. They want to leave their first love (God) and follow the ways of the people around them. “Give us a king!” is their cry. They had a King. The Lord God Himself was their ruler. But that wasn’t good enough. They wanted to be like the pagans around them and have a human king. God outlines the consequences of that choice and they stubbornly declare they have a better way. So God gives them over to their choices. And everything He told them comes to pass! The next several chapters (books!) are filled with bloodshed and slavery.

One of the most difficult things we have to defeat in life is our own stubborn belief that we know what is best for us. God always knows the best path for us. God always has a clear and perfect plan for our lives. If that were not the case, Jesus would not have come to fulfill the most astounding plan of all – our salvation by His blood. As you make decisions today about your life, try to insert one little step before going too far ahead by yourself. Ask God what His plans are. Chances are He will show you the best path and will help you along every step of the way.

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