We hope this week's devotional will encourage you in your spiritual walk. You are welcome to share this and include it in your church newsletters if you wish; we just ask that you please give credit to NTC and the author. Thank you!
Scripture: 1 Samuel 8:4-11
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, “You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to govern us.” Samuel prayed to the Lord, 7 and the Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 Just as they have done to me,[a] from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. 9 Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
10 So Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 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;
Devotional Thought:
Powerlessness and Love
Parents often feel powerless when children make choices without thinking of the consequences. Spiritual leaders may experience a similar sense of inadequacy when those in their care act in inattentive or reckless ways.
In our Scripture reading, Samuel exemplifies one who feels such powerlessness and inadequacy with respect to his sons who seemed to care more about money than about justice and the ways of God. Understandably, Samuel may have felt shame and culpability when the elders remind him of his sons’ poor character. And then added to this was the people’s impetuous request for a king.
What does a parent or leader (like Samuel) do when they find themselves in such circumstances?
In our reading, God empathizes with Samuel. God essentially says, “I feel bad with you. I understand your feeling of rejection. They’ve been rejecting me too.”
But in addition to empathy, God is in a unique place to give Samuel a way forward. He tells Samuel to “listen” to those who ask for a king. Not because they are right, not because they have truly counted the cost. Listen to them because they must choose for themselves. Samuel could, and should, warn them of the consequences but, in the end, the choice was theirs.
Sometimes as parents or leaders we think that if others choose the “wrong path” then there will be no way forward for them. But, in truth, God is bigger than the path they choose. God pursues those we love on the very path of their choosing and continues to love and to invite them to fullness of life.
In partnership with God, we can lovingly suspend our critiques, evaluations, and judgements and actively listen to and love our “tribe,” trusting in God’s unseen pursuit and engagement.
Our own missteps and those of others. Fill us with this same kind of love.
Prayer:
Lord, when we feel powerless, help us to know your understanding and comfort. Help us trust in the versatility, adaptability, and resiliency of your love with respect to our own missteps and those of others. Fill us with this same kind of love.
Rev Dr Linda Stargel
NTC Academic Dean