In the last chapter Israel asked for a king. And now it was time to chose the king.
9 There was an influential man of Benjamin named Kish son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, son of a Benjaminite. 2 He had a son named Saul, an impressive young man. There was no one more impressive among the Israelites than he. He stood a head taller than anyone else.[a]
3 One
day the donkeys of Saul’s father Kish wandered off. Kish said to his
son Saul, “Take one of the attendants with you and go look for the
donkeys.” 4 Saul and his attendant went through the hill country of Ephraim and then through the region of Shalishah, but they didn’t find them. They went through the region of Shaalim—nothing. Then they went through the Benjaminite region but still didn’t find them.5 When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the attendant who was with him, “Come on, let’s go back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us.”
6 “Look,” the attendant said, “there’s a man of God (Samuel) in this city who is highly respected; everything he says is sure to come true. Let’s go there now. Maybe he’ll tell us which way we should go.”
Saul thought he was going on a donkey hunting mission. Nothing special. Probably not the first time he had done this, but it would be the last. They were going to ask Samuel where their donkeys were, or so they thought. But what was really happening?
15 Now the day before Saul’s arrival, the Lord had informed Samuel,[c] 16 “At this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over My people Israel. He will save them from the hand of the Philistines because I have seen the affliction of My people, for their cry has come to Me.” 17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man I told you about; he will rule over My people.”
There are so many times I can think back to in my own life where I thought I was walking through the mundane, about to do something ordinary, following a path to a known ending, and then bam, God showed up with the the real reason behind my task, with an ending I couldn't have imagined in my own small mind! And how often did I complain along the way? Can you imagine if Saul was feeling frustrated "Stupid donkeys, escaping again. Like I have nothing better to do. Thirty year old man, chasing donkeys. Doesn't my father have servants for this?" Look, I am not saying that he did feel that way, but I have felt that way, only to see at the end that it was God the whole time, using ordinary circumstances to bring about an extraordinary outcome.
A great verse to meditate on is the reminder in I Thessalonians chapter 5
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Because you never know when chasing some donkey is going to lead to your life's destiny! (somebody needs to embroider that on a pillow!)
Because you never know when chasing some donkey is going to lead to your life's destiny! (somebody needs to embroider that on a pillow!)
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