Things took a turn for the worse in King Saul’s life when he allowed jealousy to creep into his relationship with David. From reading the account of Saul’s life in 1 Samuel, we know that Saul’s decline and ultimate downfall were his own fault.
Three turning points are presented where Saul took the wrong path leading to a disastrous result. Saul reached a turning point . . .
- When he became impatient waiting for Samuel and performed the office of priest (1 Samuel 13:8-14). It was at this point that Saul was informed that his dynasty would not last.
- When he disobeyed God’s command with regard to the Amalekites by allowing spoils to be taken and leaving King Agag alive. Saul used the excuse that the spoils were to be used as sacrifices to God. In response, Samuel told Saul, “to obey is better than sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 15:22)
- When Saul started becoming jealous of David as a result of the women of the city ascribing victory over ten thousands to David and only ascribed thousands to Saul as recorded in 1 Samuel 18:8.
It is this third turning point which hit home this morning.
God does not allow each of us to have the same results. This is true in our monetary economy and it is also true in God’s spiritual economy. We all have equal opportunity to serve God, but we will not all enjoy the same level of success. As is noted in point number two above, obedience and faithfulness are what God values, yet it is easy to lose sight of this as did Saul. When comparing ourselves to others who have had larger impact, there is the potential to feel jealous, inadequate or feel like we are doing something wrong. When we look at the results and not at the call, then discouragement can set in.
Should the preacher at the small church quit because there is a mega church down the street that is drawing in thousands? Should the writer of a blog with small readership stop writing because there are so many others who seem to have a larger audience? Should the missionary quit because he has seen so few people come to Christ? If they are indeed doing what God has called them to do, then the preacher, blogger and missionary should not quit, they should press on.
God has called us to faithfulness and we must learn to leave the results to him. After a moment of reflection on this, it can be seen that God is not dependent upon us to accomplish his will. The outcome of God’s program is not determined by our success or failure. The results are not in our hands. Yet, he chooses to use us.
The currency in God’s economy is faithfulness, not results. Am I doing what God has called me to do? If so, then I can be satisfied with my results, no matter how they stack up numerically as compared to others.