Monday meditation: Suppose we choose something besides what’s best?
Has God ever blessed your second best? The Bible tells us one time he did. When the Israelite nation complained because they didn’t have a king, here’s what God told them through Samuel:
“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has declared: I brought you from Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and from all of the nations that were oppressing you. But though I have rescued you from your misery and distress, you have rejected your God today and have said, ‘No, we want a king instead!’ Now, therefore, present yourselves before the Lord . . .”
“Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it over Saul’s head. He kissed Saul and said, “I am doing this because the Lord has appointed you to be the ruler over Israel.”
And then, with all the tribes of Israel gathered before him, Samuel called on Saul, the man God had chosen to be their king.
Amazing. God not only allowed their wrong decision, but he chose the guy for the job and used his servant, Samuel, to make it happen.
Did God pick Saul, knowing he would falter and fail, thus opening the way for David, the forebear of Jesus, to succeed him? We can’t say.
But we can say that our loving Heavenly Father won’t leave us just because we make a bad decision. And that’s comforting for the caregiver.
We may not be as shallow as the Israelites: “Give us a king to judge us like all the other nations have,” they told Samuel. They were more interested in “keeping up with the Joneses” than paying attention to God and his will. But even though our motives may be pure and our efforts constant, sometimes still we blow it. Sometimes we don’t know what to choose, and we decide on what turns out to be second best—or not good at all.
But our poor judgment, even our mixed motives, won’t keep God from loving and helping us. God’s promise to Joshua as he was about to take over from Moses is repeated in the New Testament to give us comfort today: “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you” (Hebrews 13:5).
No matter what else happens this week, no matter what else we make happen, we can cling to that promise. In fact, it might be worth memorizing and repeating every morning and night. If some time we display impatience in our exhaustion, if we choose something because it’s good for us without considering if it’s good for our loved one, if we worry more about how we look to the neighbors than how we’re serving at home, we need not fear.
God will forgive us. And he won’t leave us. Just repeat Hebrews 13:5 and keep going.
Read: 1 Samuel 8:1, 4-5, 10:1, 17-24 NLT
Pray: Thank you, Lord, for your never-ending grace, displayed in your patience with the Israelite nation. And thank you, for your abiding presence despite our inadequate choices. Help me to know you’re with me, Lord, even if I see I haven’t chosen what’s best.
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