It seems as though my fellow humans are interested in getting and having approval from their peers, superiors and followers (which is great because then I don't feel like the only one!). Growing up in high school peoples lives are often hijacked in the name of popularity. I've worn some pretty ugly clothes just so I could feel like part of the crowd! The news media often talks about a famous persons (especially the President's) approval rating.
I've had the hunch, though, that a high approval rating may not be the indicator of success...
This morning I read in 1 Samuel 15 about Saul, the first king of Israel. Saul was chosen because he was humble and did what God told him to do. Well.... fast forward a few years and here's God telling Saul "Hey, remember those Amalekites...? Well I'm tired of them pushing my people around.... so... Saul, I want you to go and wipe them out - don't leave any of them alive AND kill all of their livestock, too!" Well, Saul is a big king now, he wants to be seen as someone that can lead effectively - you know...have good approval ratings with his subjects.
So here is what Saul does - Saul goes out and NEARLY wipes out the Amalekites. You see he brings back their king and their best livestock (he killed all the weak and useless ones). The people were SO happy with Saul! Great job king! In fact, let's build a little monument to Saul!!! Yahoo!
Samuel was mad as a hornets nest! Why? Because Saul did not do what God asked...Saul did some of it...MOST of it but not all of it. Why? Because Saul was more interested in how the people viewed him than how God viewed him. What does God say about this? Well, God is sorry that He selected Saul as the king...and so is Samuel.
My first thought is "Wow, what an idiot, Saul!" "Just do what God tells you and you would have been OK" Unfortunately, the longer I thought about this the more convicted I became of my own actions!!! How many times has God spoken to me to do something, help someone, quit doing something... You want to know what? Saul is better than me, because sometimes I don't do what God tells me to do at ALL - I don't even do some or MOST.... I sit back and worry about my approval rating... will people say that I'm some kind of freak???
Prayer: God, please give me the strength and courage to do what you ask of me. Help me to do it right away and help me to do all of it!
Maybe someday my approval rating won't matter...Hopefully......people will say that I'm some kind of freak!
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That was very encouraging Brad, I totally feel you. I think I did the same thing in Highschool. All I wanted to do was be in the play's and be an artsy type of person. Yet I let others "approval ratings" guide me. So I dressed like a prep and did sports. I think now days I am a freak because someone once told me "your success is based on what your willing to ignore"! Now I ignore as much as possible to please God and do my God given talents. It was hard for many years but I see it is paying off for my children as well as others around you. God has kept me grounded and strengthened me through it all. God bless and thanks for sharing, "hugs"!
ReplyDeleteGreat words of advice! You and your husband are great servants of God and ... you ARE a freak...a JESUS FREAK! Love ya! Thank YOU for sharing...hugs back atcha...
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