He Knows What Is Best

The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel?
Fill your horn with oil and be on your way;
I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem.
I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”
1 Samuel 16:1 NIV

It seems as if God is always teaching us valuable lessons throughout life. He is God. He is good. He is sovereign.

God is always concerned about us following instructions.

Are the detailed? Yes! As detailed as they need to be to get you from point to point.

He first selects a king because the people cried out for one. Only to see that he would utterly fail God. How? By not following instructions.

He knows what is best.

“So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.””
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭8:4-9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This inevitably leads to God showing the people both sides of the coin. God essentially is saying, “The king you select compared to the king I will select.”

The “king” can be taken as a metaphor in our life.

The king could be a person/relationship, a job, money, a car, a place, a position, a sport, a hobby or any other thing we may select over what God selects as best for us.

HE EVEN LETS US PROCEED! Wow!
So that truly we can learn the way to follow the guidance of God to only select what God selects!!!

God told Samuel the prophet… “I’m sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem.” That is detail. Why then only say right after, “one of his sons to be king?”

If God gave detail using the name Jesse, why didn’t He give detail to identify which son was king? He could have made it easier from the beginning by providing the name of David too.

The easier things we take actually end up becoming the worst things.
And the worst things that took so much effort become the best things!

Makes us think… He does tell Samuel the prophet at the end of meeting all the other sons, that it is David He selected. But he doesn’t tell him that initially. He tells him when to go, where to go and then makes him choose, choose and choose. This looks just like the people of Israel. We select based on our immediate needs, sight, preferences, requirements, etc.

“Must be this and it MUST be that!”

What we actually do is place LIMITATIONS upon a God that does the LIMITLESS!!! Don’t you think that the God who is able to create the universe is able to place the “must be” type of things on top of what looks like a mess? We strive for perfection and want nothing less but that does not allow God to place His perfection on what you think is perfect!

God will place His perfection on the imperfect things to show us from the less you will have the BEST!!! From what you thought as weak is actually strong. What you thought wasn’t good enough is actually GREAT enough. That is how God does the IMPOSSIBLE!!!

Then, after all we have learned. God speaks. Now He gives the rest of the detail, when we follow the first instruction because He always know what is BEST!

“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.””
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭16:7‬ ‭NIV‬‬