Accepting God’s Will

 Elis said…..“It is the Lord. Let Him do what seems good to Him”

This past two weeks, I have been exploring the book of Samuel, and it has been a favorite of mine since my teenage years. The Lord allowed me to see something new. The story of Eli is the story of many people whom God calls to serve Him. While he excelled in his priesthood, he failed as a parent.

1 Samuel 2:29 (NKJV)

 “Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?”

Eli’s sons had been going astray for a while when the Lord sent a man of God to tell him that He was not happy with how Phinehas and Hophni were behaving in their service to the Lord as priests. God was gracious enough to send this man of God to forewarn Eli and give him a chance to correct his sons and bring them back to the ways of the Lord. But Eli let them be, and they continued to sin against the Lord. The ignorance of this first warning may have caused the Lord to bring judgment to the house of Eli through his apprentice, the prophet Samuel.

1 Samuel 3:12-14 (NKJV)

 “In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

As Christians, we are called to a life of surrender to God’s will. The reason I shared Eli’s story is that we assume we are not likely to go through trials and tribulations. But as I read 1 Samuel 3, the Lord reminded me that sometimes the trials and tribulations we go through in our lives are meant for His glory. Samuel may have been afraid to share what God had revealed to him about the house of Eli because it was a word that spelled doom for the house of Eli. But Eli had a different posture. After hearing the prophecy and knowing the Lord had spoken, he accepted it and resigned himself to what God was doing.

Now that we are living in the new covenant of Christ Jesus as the lamb who has been slaughtered for our sins, and in a time when the Lord recognizes us as individual priests in His kingdom, how then can we ensure that we are aware of what God is doing in each season of our lives and ensure that we do not call circumstances we see as thorns in our lives the works of the enemy, while it is the Lord’s will or His way of grooming us into becoming vessels that He can use in His kingdom? If you are surrendered to Christ and living for Him, everything works out for your good even when things appear to be negative. It is therefore our duty to look up to the Lord and know what His will for our life is in every situation and align ourselves with what He is doing in that season of our lives.

1 Samuel 3:18 

“Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, ‘It is the LORD. Let Him do what seems good to Him.’”

Love and the Holy Spirit

"The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number …."

The fruits of the spirit:  photo by Lia Regina on Unsplash

Lately, I have been feeling led to share and speak of God’s love. This is mainly because I have seen Him move differently in such a reassuring manner over the last couple of months, and I feel compelled to share. On Pentecost Sunday, our church had a little raffle that involved picking out a specific gift for each believer present that day, and I picked out Love. Usually, I wouldn't put much thought into such things, but this past year I have come to learn that God is a God of details. I realized that this was not just a piece of paper with the word "Love" written on it, but a promise by the Spirit that His love was going to follow me in this season. The Lord spoke on that day, and since then, I have seen the Lord shower me with His love at both the family and individual levels.

After Pentecost Sunday, as I was reading the book of Deuteronomy, I got to see and experience His love for the people of Israel, which now translates to His love for us under the new covenant. In Deuteronomy 6:10-11, God is so keen on reminding us that He is committed to bringing us into a land with good things, not because we deserve these good things, but because He is a promise keeper. One thing that we, as human beings, relate to love is receiving nice things from those who care about us. In this case, God speaks of gifting the Israelites beautiful cities they did not build and houses full of all good things.

Deuteronomy 6:10-11 (NKJV) 

“So it shall be, when the LORD your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full—”

As I reflect on this first half of the year, I can only testify to seeing God's hand over my life. His love is one thing I can pinpoint as what has held me together. I have lived through situations that I would not have been able to get through without God holding my hand. He has sent help sometimes in the form of friends who have spoken into my life, and at other times He has given me joy as a gift to carry me through situations that my human eyes considered difficult.

Deuteronomy 7:7-8 (NKJV) 

“The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples: but because the LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt."

As we move into the second half of this year, God is reminding me that His love is what will sustain us. The word that is echoing through my life is that I have to grow in my faith in Him. It is from God that all good things flow. My challenge to you would be to also explore the book of Deuteronomy because it really serves as a reminder of God’s love for us as He walked with the Israelites in the desert. God tells the Israelites that He did not set His eyes on them because they were many in number, but simply because He loved them. So as you get through July to December 2024, carry God's unwavering love as a shield as you go through your day-to-day activities. Are you struggling in school or in your career? Trust that the Lord will show you His love, lift you up, and ensure that you are the head and not the tail in any space you walk into. God’s love is what makes us Christians win and stand out in every room we walk into.