Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 28:6-7, And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets. 7 Then Saul said to his servants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.”
Saul’s story is a sad and tragic story; a man who could have been used greatly by the LORD had he been obedient, and humbled himself before God. Instead, Saul chose rebellion. He chose to do things his own way. He allowed his jealousy to drive him to chase after an innocent servant; a faithful servant whom God would have used to elevate Saul’s reign as king. Instead of enjoying the blessings of what God was offering him, Saul chose a life separated from God, which for any one of us would be a curse. Here, in the last desperate moments of his life, Saul, once again, shows his heart and true colors. Yet, before we criticize Saul, let us step back and consider our own heart. Saul’s heart is filled with terror as he now faces war against the Philistines. In a last ditch effort to find victory he attempts to inquire of the LORD. What he finds is actually much scarier than facing a large army of Philistines. He finds no answers from God. How often have we been in those times when we felt that God was not answering our prayers? How often did God’s deafening silence cause us to have the sinking feeling in the pit of our gut, and drove us to a feeling of desperation? Why did God not answer Saul? Besides the obvious, we also see Saul’s heart and intentions in the verse seven. Saul’s choice and actions, after not hearing from the LORD, revealed where his heart and intentions really were. His words may have been words of pleading to hear from God, but in his heart he had other plans, and those plans involved turning to the devils if God did not answer his pleas. Proverbs 21:2 clearly states, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.” In Christ, we know that God will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). However, this does not mean that God will not go silent on us if we choose to be rebellious. God is not blind to who we really are and what is in our hearts when we come to Him. He knows the intentions and motivations of our hearts when we come to Him, pleading for an answer to our prayers. He will go silent if we ignore the conviction from the Holy Spirit when we sin. He will go silent when we continually ignore His voice and choose to continually disobey His Word in order to do things our way, for our own selfish reasons. Saul went to God with an alternate, and sinful, plan, should God choose to be silent with Him; but God already knew it long before Saul tried to get an answer from Him. So it still is with the Lord, when we come to Him with doubt in our hearts. In the Book of James, God reminds us that trials are profitable, and if we lack the wisdom we need to navigate those trials, we can freely ask for it. However, if we lack faith in asking, God will not answer. James 1:5-8 admonishes and warns, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” Jesus will never forsake us in our trials; but He does not want us to think that He is just some personal “lucky charm” that we can pull out of our pocket whenever we want to get out of a tough situation; then put Him back in our pocket until we need Him again. God wants to have a personal, intimate, relationship with us; one where we make Him the priority. He wants to hear from us continually, and He desires to speak with us, through His Word and the beckoning of the Spirit, in Christ. Let us, right now, forsake whatever it is that is in our hearts that is causing the divide in our relationship with the Lord; for only He can deliver us and see us through the most difficult times in life.
Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His free gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His free gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).
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