Purposeful Pain

Reading 1 Samuel recently has completed rocked my world. I have a confession, I've always been pretty partial to reading New Testament books for some reason. Through some recent things, I've just decided to begin studying 1 Samuel and GOOD GRIEF it has ROCKED MY WORLD!!! I ran across some great principles today while reading chapter 12. Now, to be honest, I won't get it all out there because God is still helping me process a lot of it, but MAN it's solid stuff.

1 Samuel 12:8-11 is all about Samuel talking to Israel after the official confirmation of Saul as king. (Saul WAS ordained by God to take over, even during the rough times, in case you were wondering.) Samuel is talking to the Israelites about the trust that he has earned from them, then Samuel began to publicly remember some past times and experiences and Samuel begins to teach them a REALLY difficult and REALLY insane lesson. One thing I like about Samuel is that he was NOT afraid to tell it like it was!

He looked at those Israelites and reminded them of the time that Moses took them into the wilderness, and that God led them there, and God was on the front of their minds. Then Moses, through the guidance of God, found them a comfortable place and they settled there. Then the Israelites began to forget the God that kept them safe, and the vision that led them there! And they began to complain and completely forget about God! Then 1 Samuel says, "He sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king Moab, and they fought against them."

Check this out: God noticed that HIS people, the Israelites, had completely forgotten HIS visions, HIS direction, and HIS love! Therefore, God had a nice little plan, allow them to be in a situation where they realized exactly how small they really are without HIM! So, when these tribes began fighting against them, they SUDDENLY realized just how small and weak they were without the power, and desire of God in their lives! So, they began to cry out to God for direction, help, and grace again.

Then, God did something else INCREDIBLE! He heard their cries and blessed. SO, they had FORGOTTEN Him, He REMINDED them, then He BLESSED them! Sometimes we FORGET, so we need to be REMINDED, in order for Him to BLESS!!! But check this out: How did He bless? He gave them the 4 things they needed (and we all need) in order to "live in security". (vs. 11b)

He gave them:

1- Godly Vision > Samuel, name means: "Heard of God"

> He gave them a man that is heard of God and in touch with the heartbeat of the Father!

2- Logic > Bedan: A judge of Israel

> Judges are pretty smart people, with a lot of logic

3- Leadership Ability > Jephthah, name means: Mighty Man of Valour, Breaker Through.

> He led Israel out of the oppression of the Ammonites. He was placed in a leadership position to help LEAD the Israelites. It was HIS decision to use his LEADERSHIP ABILITY to better himself, and help a hurting nation. (that'll preach!)

4- Fight > Jerubbaal (Gideon): Name given to Gideon because he defeated the altar of Baal.

> Jerubbaal saw an injustice, got sick of it and did something about it.

God sent the Israelites, after forgetting Him when they were in a COMFORTABLE PLACE NOT WILLING TO MOVE, 4 helpers to cover the 4 sides, so there was NO room for infiltration...

Look at this: To live a life of security with Christ, we must cover all 4 sides of our tribe (our hearts, our spirits, our minds, our families, our church) with these 4 characteristics.

They FORGOT, He REMINDED, He BLESSED!

(dude, that's INTENSE teaching there. Don't worry if it didn't make sense at first, God's still helping me grab it all too. If you didn't get it the first time, read it about 40 more times, God'll help!)