That was the cry of the people of Israel to the God who had shown himself to be faithful to them in every situation. God was their leader. The people had relied on Him. He had constantly provided. It was a pretty awesome relationship…and one that was completely unlike anything that anyone had ever experienced before. The Israelites were blessed. And, how did they respond?
“God, give us a king!!!”
Basically, they told God they were tired of His leadership. They no longer wanted to rely on a God that they couldn’t see. They could no longer rely on one another. And, they no longer relied on themselves. They wanted a leader – a human leader – to guide them, direct them, control them, provide for them, and protect them.
“God, give us a king!!!”
God explained that there perspective was warped. They couldn’t see the whole picture. They didn’t know that a human leader would actually wind up leading them away from God. They didn’t realize that relying on man was a bad idea.
“God, give us a king!!!”
And what did God do? He relented. He backed down. He stopped trying to convince them. He let them make their own decision. He let them mess things up. Out of His love for the people, He allowed them to make a stupid decision.
“God, give us a king!!!”
And, so they got one…Saul…a man whose heart was divided…pleasing God was important…so was pleasing man. The people got everything they wanted…and their relationship with God suffered…their reliance on Him waned…life became a struggle. God (to their surprise) had been right.
As the final polls close on the West Coast, I wonder if the people of the United States of America have spent the last 50-60 years learning how to rely on human leaders and turning away from the leadership of God. I wonder if we have repeatedly asked for politicians to guide us, direct us, control us, provide for us, and protect us. And, as a result of our constant requests, I wonder if God finally allowed us the opportunity to choose one of two candidates to be our “king”…knowing all along that neither one is best for us…knowing that we’ve left the leadership of God…knowing that our cries for a human leader would not cease until we’ve finally put people in government that could “take care of all of our problems.”
Was I worried about this presidential election? No. In my opinion, neither candidate was the right choice (not because of who they are, but because of who we are).
Am I worried about our country? Yes. In my opinion, we have forgotten what the United States of America was and should be. We started well, but ever since our humble beginnings 232 years ago, we have cried out, “God, give us a king!!!” And now, the government as a whole – Repbulicans and Democrats / Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches / Conservatives and Liberals / Federal, State, and Local – is our king.
What will tomorrow hold? I have no idea. God is still in control…but in many ways, I think we are on our own…just like we “wanted” to be. In fact, we’ve gotten everything we wanted…and now we will begin to realize what that really means.
Pray for our leaders…each and every one of them. Commit to once again rely on God. Resist the temptation to rely on one human leader, or two, or even several hundred working in a city halfway up the Eastern coastline. And, resist the temptation to attack these leaders…they are only doing what we’ve asked them to do…it’s true that they are “misguided”…but it is our fault for steering them incorrectly.
Now, get some sleep, and rest easy in the fact that God is still in control…some way…somehow…God is still in control.
