FAITH CAPSULE: God is a Great Manager; God will never mismanage your life.

1 Samuel 8

Asking God to bless us with the blessings that he has blessed other with is a sign that we have rejected Him for what He has for us. God knows our each and every need; he has a better understanding of what we need and want most in life. God gave the children of Israel judges to rule over them as a nation while the nations surrounding them had kings. Seeing this, the children of Israel wanted a change; they wanted to have a king and be like other nations and not what God wants for them to be. The children of Israel approached Samuel, the leader ordained by God, “Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD. (1 Samuel 8:4-6) The request from the children of Israel was not rooted in sincerity of the incompetency of the sons of Samuel but on the fact that they wanted to have king like other nations around them. The request was not a pleasant one before God. The request lack sincerity and loyalty for God that was always with them  and with best provision. “And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.” (1 Samuel 8:7-9) Are you letting God know that you appreciate all that He has done and the things He is doing rather than asking Him for what He is doing for others around you? He is a Great Manager; God will never mismanage our life. He is the same yesterday and forever. Evidently, God was not pleased with the children of Israel’s request when He referred to it again in Hosea 13:11,” I gave you a king in My anger, And took him away in My wrath.” Avoid the wrath of God; do not let your request before God count against you as an act of rejecting God.

Payer for today: Ask God to make you never to ask whatever is outside of His divine plan for your life.