Ouch!

Matt. 25: 23 His Lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful…

When he was a baby his mother had said, “I am lending him to the Lord for as long as he lives”. With this in mind, from childhood he spent his entire life in God’s service, as a prophet, a priest and a judge. He had carried messages to Israel from God; had spoken to God on behalf of the people; prayed for them, cried over them, served them; his whole life was wrapped up in Israel. He had brought up his sons to serve the Lord and, as was expected, they also became judges. The young men were not perfect, they made mistakes, but surely, those could be worked out. And Samuel himself had a few good working years left. That was why when the elders of Israel came to him with their request, he was so shocked. “You are old”, they said, “and your sons are not behaving right. We cannot work with the present leadership anymore. Get us a king”.

Samuel was deeply hurt. The words rang in his ears. “You are old”. Yes, surely he was, but not that old. Couldn’t they wait until he retired? He had given his best, his life to Israel. Is this the way they showed their appreciation? “Your sons are not behaving right”. In other words, “you have not been a good father and have not raised them right”. The accusation burned him. “Get us a king”. They wanted to be like the other nations. Hadn’t they learned anything? Had his whole lifework been in vain? He had failed as a pastor. He went home hurt and burdened.

But then the Lord spoke to Samuel and told him something that we each should remember. The people are not yours, they are Mine. The message is not yours, it is Mine. The work is not yours, it is Mine. They have not rejected you, they have rejected Me.

Sometimes as we serve God, we get discouraged by what looks like failure. Sometimes we are hurt by those who criticize and who fail to see the sacrifices we are making. Just remember when that happens, we are only representatives. It all belongs to God. He is the one who will judge our work and worth in the long run. Let us be satisfied that we did our best for him.

Dear Lord, sometimes it is hard to accept that working for you can be so hard and thankless, but you went through so much for me that I pledge to keep on doing my best, in Jesus’ name, amen.