To hear this Morning Devotion, please click King of the baggage
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I saw a pathetic picture in today’s One-Year Bible reading that included I Samuel 10.
Briefly stated, Saul the son of Kish had been anointed by the prophet Samuel to be Israel’s first king. You’ll recall that God and Samuel had repeatedly told the Israelites that craving a king was an indictment of their weak faith in God.
Israel didn’t pay attention to what she was told and demanded a king like the other nations had. You see, an earthly king was something they could see. And for a people thinking little about God, having something tangible was very important.
Samuel said they would live to regret the choice since it showed their lack of trust in God.
Israel suffered much with numerous lousy kings until the arrival of Jesus Christ, in fact.
Saul’s life would have been much better long-term if he also hadn’t fallen into the trap of wanting a king for the nation. Yet Satan is so good at painting lies as the better path than God’s truth.
But then, as they eventually always do, the wheels of those lies fell off before Saul’s kingship even left the showroom floor.
In one of the most ridiculous pictures in the Bible, Saul — the Benjamite who was a head taller than any other Israelite — ran and hid when it came time for him to be proclaimed king in front of the national assembly.
“When they looked for him, he was not to be found. So they inquired further of the Lord, ‘Has the man come here yet?’
“And the Lord said, ‘Yes, he has hidden himself in the baggage.'” (verse 22).
Some men ran to the baggage pile and pulled the chicken-hearted Saul out.
Moments later, the assembly was shouting, “Long live the king!”
Crazy, huh?
It’s easy to criticize Saul and the Israelites. Both were foolish.
This story, however, triggers a question that we should ask ourselves — how do we act when we realize that we’re called by God to serve in an important role yet we’re afraid of failure?
Rather than run to God in prayer in search of wisdom and strength, Saul chose to run and hide.
It would have been so much better for Saul to stand before the people to concede his fears and inexperience, yet declare his faith in God and trust that God would pour power and wisdom into him.
But Saul’s twisted pride pointed him toward the baggage pile.
Even when he was brought out of the baggage pile, Saul still had the opportunity to rescue some sense of godliness.
He could have admitted his fears and the role of pride and his renewed trust in God’s grace.
He could have sought forgiveness for not demonstrating the example of faithfulness needed in a king.
He would have built bridges with so many people who had failed in their own lives.
But he didn’t.
His life didn’t turn out well, the Bible shows.
Why? Because he never learned from his mistake of trusting the baggage pile to protect him.
Dear friend, we’re all going to have those moments when we doubt God’s choice and power to use us in a church role or evangelistic effort toward a relative/co-worker and we hide behind our baggage.
When the leading of the Lord pulls you from the baggage of past regrets and scars and mistakes, concede your fears that pointed you toward the baggage rather than toward the place God called you.
Remember that God can do great things with people pulled from the baggage of their lives, people like Adam, people like Rahab, people like Moses, people like Peter, like Paul and like John Newton, the slave trader-turned-preacher who wrote “Amazing Grace.”
Life is so much better serving in the strength of God rather than hiding in the baggage of our past.
Stand tall in faith, my friend. The God who knew your weaknesses when He called you to serve Him will not leave you to rely on your own strength. His call ALWAYS comes with His strengthening for the sake of His glory.
As always, I love you
Martin
