Sandy's Devotional

Sandy's Devotional

Now the LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and GO!  I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons." And Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me." And the LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you." (1 Samuel 16: 1-3)

 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.” (Exodus 14:10-15)

Here, we read of two different situations of fear and disappointment. Samuel is having a tough time getting out of his grief about Saul. There is a time to mourn, and there is a time to move on and do more for God who always has MORE. Samuel was stuck in disappointment, fear of other people, perhaps even worn out and second guessing his own abilities. We see the same situation as the Israelites left Egypt.  They were terrified and thought that they’d done the wrong thing leaving Egypt. God’s command: “MOVE ON! GO!”  What a wonderful promise, “The Lord will fight for you. You need to only be still.”  Fear, sorrow and disappointments can paralyze, but God says, “Move on!  I’ll go before you as you take steps forward, just trust Me, believe Me, rest in Me.” I feel that many of us, during this difficult period, have gotten stuck – perhaps like Samuel and the people of Israel, fearful and unable to go forward with the Lord. Friends, He is speaking to us – “Move on! Step out in faith and I will defend you.”