Stop Here for a While
“As they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to pass on before us, and when he has passed on, stop here yourself for a while, that I may make known to you the word of God.” 1 Samuel 9:27
God has a plan and purpose for your life. Nothing in this life will bring lasting contentment unless you're living to know God in Christ and His purpose for your life. Before the prophet Samuel made known to Saul God's plan to make him King, several providential things happened to bring Saul to Samuel. The donkeys that belonged to Saul's father went missing. Therefore Saul's father directed his son, along with a servant, to go and search for them. Unable to find the donkeys, Saul's servant advised him to seek out Samuel the prophet who happened to be in the city where they were searching for them. When Saul met Samuel, he learned immediately that the donkeys were found. Samuel also invited Saul and other guests to eat dinner with him and to stay for the night before going back home. In the morning before sending Saul away, Samuel instructed Saul to stop and let his servant go on ahead so that he could make known to him God's plan for his life.
What can we learn from Saul's providential encounter with Samuel? The things in our lives that we often think are random occurrences, God is using to bring us to a place where He can make His plans known to us. In Saul's case, God used the donkeys that went missing to set Saul on a path that would lead to discovering his divine destiny. In the same way, God can use what may seem to us as a loss of time, a loss of a job, or a broken relationship to bring us to a place where we can hear His voice and discover the path of life He designed for us to take.
Although God used Saul's servant to point him to Samuel, Saul had to allow the servant to go ahead of him while he stopped and remained to hear for himself the word of the Lord. There are people in our lives that can point us in the right direction, warn us and impart wise counsel. We need good relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ who will tell us not what we want to hear but what we need to hear. But we also need to stop and get alone with God in prayer and in the word to come to know Him intimately for ourselves and receive His strength and clarity for the journey of life. “Our Bible reading should not be a marathon, but a slow, deliberate soaking in of its message." AW Tozer
The unpleasant, uncomfortable, and inconvenient things that happen in our lives are not random events. God is providentially working to connect us to people and to bring us to places where we can see him working so that we might join Him. Don't allow the enemy's (meaning Satan's) weapons of mass distractions to keep you from knowing God intimately and living out His best plans for your life. Stop for a while to remain in the presence of the Lord daily. Make time for God. And follow Him wherever He leads.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10a
In Your Service,
Pastor Marco
God has a plan and purpose for your life. Nothing in this life will bring lasting contentment unless you're living to know God in Christ and His purpose for your life. Before the prophet Samuel made known to Saul God's plan to make him King, several providential things happened to bring Saul to Samuel. The donkeys that belonged to Saul's father went missing. Therefore Saul's father directed his son, along with a servant, to go and search for them. Unable to find the donkeys, Saul's servant advised him to seek out Samuel the prophet who happened to be in the city where they were searching for them. When Saul met Samuel, he learned immediately that the donkeys were found. Samuel also invited Saul and other guests to eat dinner with him and to stay for the night before going back home. In the morning before sending Saul away, Samuel instructed Saul to stop and let his servant go on ahead so that he could make known to him God's plan for his life.
What can we learn from Saul's providential encounter with Samuel? The things in our lives that we often think are random occurrences, God is using to bring us to a place where He can make His plans known to us. In Saul's case, God used the donkeys that went missing to set Saul on a path that would lead to discovering his divine destiny. In the same way, God can use what may seem to us as a loss of time, a loss of a job, or a broken relationship to bring us to a place where we can hear His voice and discover the path of life He designed for us to take.
Although God used Saul's servant to point him to Samuel, Saul had to allow the servant to go ahead of him while he stopped and remained to hear for himself the word of the Lord. There are people in our lives that can point us in the right direction, warn us and impart wise counsel. We need good relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ who will tell us not what we want to hear but what we need to hear. But we also need to stop and get alone with God in prayer and in the word to come to know Him intimately for ourselves and receive His strength and clarity for the journey of life. “Our Bible reading should not be a marathon, but a slow, deliberate soaking in of its message." AW Tozer
The unpleasant, uncomfortable, and inconvenient things that happen in our lives are not random events. God is providentially working to connect us to people and to bring us to places where we can see him working so that we might join Him. Don't allow the enemy's (meaning Satan's) weapons of mass distractions to keep you from knowing God intimately and living out His best plans for your life. Stop for a while to remain in the presence of the Lord daily. Make time for God. And follow Him wherever He leads.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10a
In Your Service,
Pastor Marco