Letting other's lead can be hard for a leader

1 Samuel Chapter 12

Samuel has served the Lord faithfully but the people have decided that they would rather be led by a king. King Saul has proved himself in battle and so Samuel makes the public transference of power away from himself and over to Saul. Samuel will, of course, still be a mouthpiece for God and still be a spiritual leader but Israel now has a king and much of Samuel’s responsibilities will be diminished. 

Even though Samuel has been obedient to God’s command throughout this transference, he really sticks it to the Israelites in his farewell speech. They have been sinful and ungrateful and wanting a king and he makes sure that they know it. He also makes them publically testify that he has been faithful and just in his dealings with them. 

If a tongue lashing wasn’t enough, he also has God rain down thunder and lightning and destroys crops that were just about ready to be harvested. The people freak and beg Samuel to ask God for mercy. He does of course and leaves them with one final charge. If they will be faithful to God and if their king will do the same, then things will be just fine. If not, well, you know how that goes. 

Lessons: Samuel wasn’t perfect but he finishes strong (and still has some miles left to go). He is faithful to the end even if he is a bit ornery in the process. Obedience through thick and thin counts and we need to be able to trust God even when it’s not easy. How often to people willingly give up power because it’s the right thing to do? Rarely are any of us humble enough to do this at the right time. May we be obedient to let God work, even if that means that we have to step aside and let someone else take authority and credit. May we serve God how He sees fit, not how we see fit.