8.15.23 - 1 Samuel 8:7-9
What are the criteria you look to embody in a leader? How do those criteria align with who you believe God calls you to be?
and God said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. Just as they have done to me from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. Now then, listen to their voice; only, you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
Israel is in a leadership-crisis at the intersection of who is leading and how the followers are following.
On the one hand, Samuel’s sons have sucked at their job.
On the other, the nation of Israel is asking Samuel for the kind of leader who will just show up and tell them what to do.
In prayer, Samuel realizes that the people’s request is ultimately a rejection of God’s leadership in their lives.
God realizes Samuel won’t be able to change their minds and in a move of real leadership - challenges him to warn them about the outcome of begging for a king who dictates his power rather than offers cooperative response.
What kinds of choices do you regret making when it comes to who leads your life, and why?
How can you surrender to the way God leads you?
--Libby Tedder Hugus