Joel M Bradshaw

4Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey 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. 

8According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”–1 Samuel 8 (with emphasis)

Rejection is never fun. I have been rejected from jobs, from publishing, from relationships, and from an educational opportunity, among other things. I was even betrayed by a close friend. That felt like a rejection, too. Samuel was the final judge of Israel and the people wanted a king like everyone else had.

When Samuel went to God he was informed of the true rejection. Israel had what no other nation had–God. No other nation’s object of worship was in Yahweh’s category. But the people didn’t focus on that. They instead wanted what everyone else had but they did not. Does that sound like you? Rather than rejoicing and being satisfied, they looked to their neighbors and longed.

Samuel learned a theological lesson that day. I once knew a person who longed for greener pastures. They prayed for God to send greener pastures. It was a prayer based on the 23rd psalm. The problem was that hidden in that hopeful prayer was the unspoken, “What I have is not enough. I am longing for something more or different than what I have.” Underneath that is essentially, “God, your shepherding skills are lacking. Because you have me here and I wish to be there. If you were a better shepherd I would have the greener pastures.”

Israel wanted something different than God had given them. The sad reality is that God had given them HIM. But they longed for the other. Do you reject God in your dissatisfaction? Do you approach each new day with joy and gladness? Or are you longing for that one thing God has not given you?–JMB