In case you are only tuning in today I have been recently reading Samuel, yesterday was a break from the norm with a post on the grace of God, with one or two more of those, but today we go back to the book of Samuel.
There once was a King, a very bad King, a king that offered a sacrifice himself, not allowing the priest (Samuel) to do it, a king who did not offer up all the Amalekites to destruction when commanded by God to do so.
God rejected this king, who was called Saul by the way, and chose a new King for His people Israel.
This new King, whom I am named after in my name's original form, was called David.
The story takes place in 1 Samuel 16 when God tells Samuel to stop moping (this is not mopping, but hanging around the place being sad) about the place because He has moved on from Saul. So he sends Samuel to appoint the new King. He is sent to Bethlehem where he is to find Jesse, as one of his sons is to be the next King.
Samuel meets each son in turn and God rejects them all saying that though they might look like a king God sees their heart and does not judge on the outward appearance.
Samuel then has to ask if there are any other sons and David, a rugged, well-built, beautiful eyed boy who minds sheep, comes before Samuel and God tells Samuel to anoint him King; which he does.
Now the point (besides that this guy is actually appointed melek not nagid) is that David was anointed king but Saul was still king. It is estimated that David was between 10 and 13 when he was anointed and thusly between 12 and 15 when he defeated Goliath. So imagine he was anointed at 13, he did not become King until he was 30 (not sure if that's biblical or extra-biblical, not that far yet.)
My point is he had to wait; he had to wait for 17 years, or maybe 20. I'm 22 so that's pretty much my whole life. Now, I wonder what David did with this calling. Did he laze around and act as the king he was not yet? No he did not. He was found out in the field minding the sheep. Then he is hired to come play his harp for King Saul, both of which he does without complaint and to the best of his ability in the Lord.
After this (in 1 Samuel 17) he comes and beats Goliath in the name of the Lord and the army of Israel, again without complaining.
This guy is king anointed, sometimes called 'the young pretender'. Yet he lives his life serving Saul and his father and the nation of Israel, but not as king, merely as shepherd, armour bearer, musician, servant.
We can all learn a lesson for this. You may feel like you have a calling in your life, be it a pastor, minister, youth worker, teacher, electrical engineer or whatever else it may be; and, you may not be there yet. If that is the case don't look so far ahead in your life that you miss the here and now. Don't miss the opportunity to serve in your Christian Union (or start a Christian Union) in college, don't miss the small opportunities in Church and don't miss the opportunities to become part of the place, even a small part of the place, God wants you to be. As God says in His word, if you are faithful in a little you can be trusted with more.
Go mbeannaí Dia dhuit.
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