Enough with the Mourning
- Rev. Dr. Teresa Allissa Citro
- Jan 7, 2020
- 4 min read
“Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.” -1 Samuel 16:1
As we were driving to church today, I felt God say, “Look at the words pride and stubbornness.” I had so much to do that I completely forgot. There I was sound asleep, and I was suddenly awakened with this strong sense to read 1 Samuel 16. I guess I should have just made time to look at the two words earlier today. After reading this chapter, I understood what God was trying to say. I’m going to talk about this chapter for the next few days.
Samuel was mourning because the Spirit of God had left King Saul. King Saul was done as far as God was concerned. God wasn’t going to change His mind regarding Saul. Saul was filled with pride, stubbornness, and arrogance. He disobeyed God. Disobedience is always associated with pride, stubbornness, and arrogance. He thought he could do whatever He wanted. The problem was he could do everything except take the role of a priest and king at the same time. He had a habit of disobeying God, and it cost him his crown, his life, and his dynasty. The next king did not come from his lineage. God completely wiped him out.
Samuel here was mourning Saul. He knew God meant business and Saul would no longer be king. Samuel was filled with grief, and sorrow. He was heart broken. Have you ever been grief stricken? If you have you would understand the depressed state he was in. I have been there. I understand that sad feeling when you know someone is about to loose everything because their character traits are like that of King Saul. It’s a heart-wrenching experience to watch people you care about be stripped off of everything because of their disobedience.
Samuel was in this state of mind. God comes and asks him a question, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel?“ I love how God just cuts through the chase and gets right down to the point. In other words, “Samuel enough with the mourning. The mourning time as come to an end. Stop the mourning, it’s time to move forward. Enough now, I rejected Him, you continuing the mourning isn’t going to change that.” (My interpretation here.)
It’s like God never drew a breath. Or gave Samuel time to respond. Immediately, he tells him, “Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.” Look at this. Please catch this. While Samuel was in that state of sadness, heart stricken, and depressed God tells him, “Go!” I can’t help but to think about that verse, “there's a time to mourn and a time to dance.” This was now a time to rejoice. God was about to choose His own king to rule His people. He tells Samuel where to go, “Bethlehem,” and to which household. That of “Jesse.”
I feel so strongly God is saying two things to us today.
First, there’s a warning. Let’s be very careful about our stubbornness, pride, arrogance and disobedience. There comes a time God’s Spirit no longer struggles with ours. There’s is such a thing as God having enough. When we disobey we are the ones who pay the consequences. We totally miss out on God’s glorious plans for our lives. God doesn’t lose anything. He just replaces the people. Hard to accept, but it’s the truth. God’s enoughs (I know my made up word) are a dangerous place for us to be in. Let’s be real, we have applied this with people we know. We gave people chance after chance to stop their behaviors. Then the time came we said, “Enough, I’m done.” This is what God did here.
Secondly, God changed Samuel’s mourning into joy. Samuel was given hope in the midst of the heartache, the brokenness, the sadness, and the deep sorrow. Immediately, God took away those feelings that kept Samuel depressed. God turned his mourning into gladness. God brought joy and hope to Samuel. It was time he came out of mourning and sadness. Samuel was responsible to what God told him. He had to get up, stop being sad, stop feeling depressed, and see the new thing God was doing. He was invited to participate in this new thing. “Fill your horn with oil and go.” Then, he had to get up and go! You see, Samuel had to take control over his emotions, accept what King Saul had done, and move forward. God had a wonderful plan In store. Regardless, of the foolishness and disobedience of King Saul.
I love how God does this with us, too. After we have been through a terrible trial. God comes to us with “Enough! Stop mourning, stop feeling bad. Stop with the crying, and stop with the sadness.” He reminds us we cannot change people, circumstances, their behaviors, and habits. We only have the power to change ourselves. That’s it.
I’m so grateful I serve a God that says, “Enough with the mourning. Get up and go. I have a plan and nobody can stop it. I just change the people who disqualify themselves, and give you those who have hearts after me.” Amen?!
Rev. Dr. Teresa Allissa Citro
Founder and President of Thread of Hope, Inc.
Comentários