The Life of DavidSample

Day 5: 1 Sam. 10-12 x Emily Langford, Marketing + Comms Manager at UPPERROOM

Since the beginning of God’s relationship with man, there has been a great temptation for man to question the provision and effectiveness of His leadership.

In today’s reading, Israel is resisting God as their king and telling Samuel they want an earthly king like all the other nations. God honors their request by giving them King Saul. As we experience God and His chosen people through scripture, it can be easy to presume Israel is disobedient, ungrateful, and fickle in their faith. However, it’s 2024, and not much has changed. :)

God’s leadership is still flawless, and we often question it against what the world can offer, casting our faith in the mere means and measurable matters of man (the right president, a good economy, a filled church gathering where everyone leaves healed, etc.) to confirm God is at work and trustworthy in all He does.

Every soul has an ache, a craving, looking to be satisfied. We were made to hunger for something, rather, Someone, and the presence of His leadership is the provision we need to source us… it is the prescription for every ailment, misalignment, lack, desire, and so much more.

In our house, we hold fast to the conviction that “His presence transforms lives,” but it doesn’t end there. His presence transforms ____________. Nations, governments, families, marriages, schools, neighborhoods, gas stations, the mission field, the doctor’s office, your morning commute. It transforms the hearts of kings, terrorists, criminals, and the unbelieving.

Even Jesus, in all perfection, had a moment of wondering if there was another way than what God had spoken. On the eve of His crucifixion, the very son of God, in all humility and humanity, asked the Father if there was another way than the cross. Nevertheless, Jesus yielded to Heaven’s perfect leadership and “became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.” If our brother, Jesus, needed the leadership of our Dad, how much more must we, the Church and the nations of the earth, prioritize His leadership, a jealous and zealous King, faithful in all and overall?

Prayer: Holy Spirit, reveal to me where I am not trusting God’s perfect leadership in my life. Help me to resist trusting man or my own leadership more than Yours. Strengthen me to be obedient no matter the cost. I long for You, and I hear You today, so I will not harden my heart. Make me irrecoverably tender to Your voice and give me the fear of the Lord.