The pattern of events here in 1 Samuel 11 follows a similar line to that of the judges in the book of Judges. We read that the Spirit of God comes upon Saul in power to perform the specific task of rescuing Israel and he does indeed rescue Israel. What Saul appears to be here is what the people were accustomed to expect from the example of foreign kings and from her own warlord judges over the last few generations. This pattern works here, but it is only a very short-term solution to Israel’s vulnerability. Ultimately God wanted to give them a different kind of king, one in whom his Spirit would dwell, not temporarily for the performance of certain tasks, but permanently; a man ‘after his own heart’ who would lead his people to greater faith and spiritual maturity. Saul, however, was just a continuation of a former pattern of doing things that would prove to be insufficient for the future. God is constantly moving us on from what we know to new things; things we would not have predicted. This is progress, and our journey of growth with God, just like that of Israel’s journey of growth with God, requires constant upgrades of this kind. Don’t allow yourself to get stuck in patterns that worked in the past. Allow God to bring you forward into new patterns of life. Embrace change. Growth means change. Living things grow. Dead things do not.
Think about what kind of changes God is leading you through. Ask him to continue to lead you forward.
Read 1 Samuel 11
