Israel began to yearn for a king and told Samuel they needed one to lead them like their neighbouring nations. Samuel, their prophet who dwelt in the Ramah in the hill country of Ephraim knew it would not favour them as this meant they have rejected God’s perfect will for them. It was not his intention for them to have a king as the Lord is their King. Influence from the neighbouring nations was beginning to take root. Samuel prayed to God about their request and the Lord told him that he had chosen one already. Samuel waited for events to unfold.
In Gibeah, the household of Kish woke up to find out that all the donkeys were missing from the pen. Kish was a very wealthy man from the tribe of Benjamin and he had a son named Saul. ‘Saul, why don’t you go with the servants to search for the donkeys?’ Kish asked Saul. “We will start searching from the hills of Ephraim” One of the servants suggested to Saul and so the search began. They had walked all day looking for the donkeys to no avail in the hills before one of the servants realized that there was a prophet who lived in Ramah and that they could just ask about the whereabouts of the donkey without having to have gone in circles. So they went to Samuel’s house. When Samuel saw them from a distance as he had heard Saul ask for directions to his place, he identified himself as the person they were looking for. He entertained them as his guests. After they had eaten, he requested to speak to Saul privately. He then told him to kneel down and poured a flask of anointing oil on his head. “Saul the Lord has anointed you commander over his inheritance”. Samuel said. “The donkeys that you were looking for have been found, your father is stopped worrying about the donkeys and is worrying about you.” He then gave him further instructions to follow so that signs would follow him as a confirmation of God’s word on his life. Saul walked out from Samuel with a new heart that day.
Samuel called for a gathering in Mizpah and presented Saul to them as their king. Saul was the tallest in the crowd and very good-looking. ‘Long live the king!!’ Most of the gathering hailed. “How can someone like Saul be our king?” Others spitefully asked. Saul held his peace.
The Lord ordered the steps of Saul to see Samuel even when Saul did not understand that the whole donkey saga had been orchestrated by God from the beginning. When the Lord ordains you for something, even with the signs that follow you and the confirmation of his word on you, it is not everyone that will agree with it. Some people perhaps because they know you before that may disagree. It is not their validation that matters. It is what God says about you that matters. Hold your peace and go forward with what the Lord has told you to do.
Evablazing 