Word of Encouragement (10/10/2023)
“And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets.” (1 Sam. 28:6)
Again, God didn’t answer Saul’s inquiry. But isn’t God supposed to be “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex. 34:6)? Didn’t God promise, “…call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me” (Ps. 50:15)? Why didn’t God answer Saul when he asked, sought, and knocked? Because there is such a thing as being too late, even for God’s mercies. There comes a time when the Lord declares, “Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my heart would not turn toward this people. Send them out of my sight, and let them go” (Jer. 15:1)! When the Lord shall return to judge the living and the dead, it will be too late to repent and pray for God’s mercy.
When we examine Saul’s inquiry, we wonder whether he ever had a personal relationship with the LORD. Even though God picked him as Israel’s first king, he was the people’s choice as opposed to David, a man after God’s own heart. We don’t hear of any intimate communion between Saul and God. He did mostly what he was commanded to do. And that was his problem—mostly. What made his obedience “mostly” and not “fully” or “carefully” was this lack of personal relationship with God. So, he only cared about obeying the letter of the law, not the spirit of the law. Not so surprisingly, he failed to obey even the letter of the law. That’s what Saul’s interaction with God never went beyond the transactional level to a relational one. If Saul had repented of his sin and cried out to the LORD, who knows what God would have done?
How dangerous and tragic it is to be in such an impersonal relationship with God! You may belong to the right church. You may do what you are called upon to do with a respectable degree of faithfulness and responsibility—just good enough to give you a false sense of security. But your heart may be far away from God, who is the reason for all that you do in and for the church. Can you afford to be like that with God? Who can delight your soul and bring joy to your heart like God even in the most trying moments of your life? Who can give you a ray of hope like God even in the darkest tunnel of your life’s journey? Who can give you the courage to move forward even in the face of overwhelming odds like God? Who can turn your sorrow into singing like God? Who can turn your sigh into prayer and your grief into praise like God? Who can purify our souls like God? Who can clarify your vision and show you what you ought to do like God?
Yet, are you content to be mere acquaintances with Him all these years? Do you cry out to Him when you are desperate, but you have no desire to submit to Him for life? Do you want His help, but you don’t want Him? Even now, Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart so that He may come into your heart and commune with you. Don’t turn a deaf ear to Jesus; open your heart wide and surrender yourself to Him. You cannot experience the abundant riches of His grace as long as you follow Christ at a distance. When you do that, you are wasting your time and energy for nothing, not to mention dishonoring God with your non-committal relationship with Him! May the Lord move your heart to desire Him more than anything!