1 Samuel 8 - Rejected

Todd always looked forward to this time of year. He didn’t find math class very fun, and trying to remember all those names and dates in history was giving him a headache. But February was always the best. February was when his school started getting ready for the big play they put on every year!

He had chosen his audition piece perfectly. He knew the drama teacher couldn’t resist a big ole’ speech from Shakespeare. There were lots of thee’s and thou’s and like 100 words he didn’t understand, but Todd was sure he had still nailed that audition. And really, what did it matter? He had been the lead in the play for the last three years. He was a shoe in!

So when the drama teacher posted the cast list at the end of the day, Todd played it cool as he walked over to the drama board. All the kids were whispering and looking at him. All my adoring fans, Todd thought. I bet they can’t wait to see me perform! He started at the bottom of the sheet – Todd always checked to see how Mr. Travis had filled the supporting roles first.

“Jodie: The Toad. Mindy: Robotron 3000. Zach: King of the Goblins.” Zach’ll be great for that part, Todd thought. But then his eyes widened in horror. His name was next!

This can’t be! he thought. I’m playing Goblin Number 2? I’m not the lead!?!?! His eyes jumped to the top of the list. HARRY!?!?!?!

Harry was the new kid in school. He had come out of nowhere and taken the lead role from Todd! I’ve been robbed! Todd yelled in his head! Harry hasn’t been in a play in his life! How in the world did he beat me?!?

I’m sure some of us have felt like Todd before. We’re used to being part of something, maybe even being the centre of attention, but then suddenly someone else comes in and takes that thing away from us. Maybe you just had a new brother or sister born who’s suddenly taking all of Mom and Dad’s attention away. Or maybe you weren’t picked to be on the basketball team this year. I’ve been there, and I know that’s never fun.

We talked last week about how God is willing to use anyone at any age to do His work, like He did with Samuel. But as Samuel got older, he also had to learn that sometimes God changes what jobs He wants us to do. And sometimes, God stops using us in big, obvious ways and starts using us in smaller, more subtle ways.

In 1 Samuel 8, the Bible tells us about a change in Israel’s leadership. God had been using Samuel to lead the Israelites for years, but Samuel knew that he couldn’t stay in charge forever. He was getting old and tired, so Samuel started training his sons Joel and Abijah to take over.

Joel and Abijah weren’t very nice people though. They cheated others so that they could make lots of money. They didn’t care about serving God or helping Israel do what was right; they only cared about themselves!

The Israelites saw this and weren’t impressed! This was all the people could talk about at the markets or when visiting each other. They would grumble about how Joel and Abijah were making everybody in Israel miserable! And then they would think about some of the kingdoms around them and say, “Man, those Philistines always seem so happy, and they only ever seem to be getting stronger! Their king must be really good at ruling. Maybe we should have a king too!”

So a bunch of important people in Israel – they were called elders – met with Samuel and said to him, “You are old. Your sons don’t live as you do. So appoint a king to lead us. We want a king just like the kings all the other nations have” (1 Samuel 8:5, NIrV).

Now the Bible tells us that Samuel wasn’t too pleased when he heard this. And I can imagine why. Sure, Samuel was getting older, but he had been the leader of Israel for a long time. He had helped the Israelites win battles, and he had taught the people to listen to and obey God. Now all of a sudden, they were saying to Samuel, “You and your sons aren’t good enough anymore! We want someone else!” Talk about rude!

Not only though, but I’m sure it hurt Samuel, just like how Todd was upset that he didn’t get the lead part in the play that he was so used to getting. Or maybe like you’ve been hurting over not getting on a sports team or as much attention as your used to. And even though Samuel was a good man who had trusted God throughout his entire life, I can’t help but think that he was a little angry and a little jealous that the Israelites wanted someone else instead of him.  

Now the Bible doesn’t tell us what Samuel actually prayed that day, but I can imagine it went something like this: “Can you believe this God? You chose me to lead this people! I’ve served them for years, I’ve done everything You asked me to do, and I’ve led them to victory against the Philistines because I constantly trusted You! Now all of a sudden they want a king instead of the person You’ve chosen! Are You just going to let the Israelites get away with this?”

But whatever Samuel prayed, I love how God responded to it. God said to Samuel, “Listen to everything the people are saying to you. You are not the one they have turned their backs on. I am the one they do not want as their king” (1 Samuel 8:7).

See, Samuel might have been the human leader of Israel, but it was God who was Israel’s true king. And just like the Israelites were rejecting Samuel, God was feeling that rejection too. It’s a rejection that He’s felt many times. He felt it when Adam and Eve first chose to sin against Him, and He feels it every time one of us chooses to disobey Him and not believe in Him.

That’s important guys. God knows what it feels like to be rejected. God knows what it feels like to be the most important, most amazing, most powerful Being in the entire universe, and then to have someone else come along to try and take that away. So know that whenever you feel rejected – whenever it feels like you’ve been pushed aside – God knows rejection too and can help you through it.  

The best part, though, is that even though we have rejected God – even though we’ve chosen to disobey Him – God has made a way to fix this broken relationship with Him. God wants nothing more than for us to be reunited with Him, which is why God sent Jesus to die on the cross and rise again. Because Jesus did this, God is ready to forgive us for rejecting Him. All we need to do is believe in Him and ask Him to forgive us for all those times we’ve ignored what God wanted and disobeyed Him.

God won’t force you to believe in Him, though. He wants you to, but He won’t force you. God didn’t force the Israelites to keep Him as their king. In fact, He gave the Israelites the human king they wanted! But let me tell you, it was a disaster. Almost every king of Israel rejected God, just like the Israelites did here, and made the Israelites do terrible things over the next few hundred years.

So where does that leave us? Well, God has given us all a choice. We can either choose to reject Him like the Israelites did, or we can choose to trust that His way is best and be faithful to do what He asks us. That’s what Samuel did. God helped Samuel deal with being rejected. And even though Samuel was no longer the human leader of Israel, Samuel continued to faithfully follow any instructions that God gave him. And this pleased God greatly!

As for Todd, we saw that he was pretty angry at first that he didn’t get the lead role in the play. But just like God helped Samuel get through his rejection, God can also help Todd deal with not being the lead. And just like Samuel chose to still follow God and do what He asked, the best thing Todd could do now – the thing God would want Todd to do – is to work with Harry to put on the best show possible.

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That’s all for today folks! Next week, we’re going to finally break into the New Testament and hear one of Jesus’ parables. But if any of you parents and adults out there aren’t really sure what a parable is, that’s fine. The Second Sunday Switch-Up in a few days is all about parables and why Jesus used them. So make sure you come back for both of these posts.  

~Brentagious