“Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. Do not turn after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. For the sake of his great name the Lord will not reject his people because the Lord was pleased to make you his own.” NIV
Samuel says all of this in response to the Israelites, who had asked Samuel to pray to God for them, “for we have added to all our other sins, the evil of asking for a king.” (v. 19)
There is a lot of wisdom in this verse. Sometimes, I think we just feel worn out with falling short. It is at those times that it is easiest to give in to the worries of this world and to just say, “I give up, I can’t do this.”
But, if we take that attitude, we are allowing the enemy, and for me that is worry, to win. We are, in fact, turning after useless idols by taking that approach, and Samuel eloquently reminds of us God’s perspective.
God knows that we will fall short, but, he still expects us to serve Him with all of our hearts. He will not forsake us, no matter how poorly we execute the plan, because He was pleased to make us His own.
There is a powerful amount of encouragement in these verses. I will think about that today.
365 Days of Peace 