Focusing Leaders

But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning. “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.”

It is a strong human compulsion to want to be like others. And the experiences we grow up with and live in everyday - in our homes and our societies - shape our perspectives and desires in ways we are often not aware of, nor are we as honest about them as the people of Israel were here. We don't examine our own worldview or perspectives very critically, because they are a part of who we are, they fit so naturally, they are comfortable.

Yet here is a warning for us to remember that the ways that seem natural and right to us, the ways we grew up doing things or which make the most sense to us, those ways may not be the ways that God wants to lead us. He may want to teach us something new and different. When the time comes that he speaks to us with unorthodox directions, will we be able and willing to hear him and consider the alternative to the way we've always done things?

Father, help me see the ways I have been shaped by the values of my family and culture. Though they are so ingrained in me, I want to hold them lightly and be subject to your correction and teaching. Please create an openness in me to learn new ways from you.

So Samuel passed on the LORD’s warning to the people who were asking him for a king. “This is how a king will reign over you....

Samuel goes on to describe activities of practically every government. I don't believe governments are necessarily bad, nor are they necessarily good. But for God's people, the primary danger is that a government will take the place of God's rule as the focus of our energy in making the world a better place, and we will depend upon them to do what God wants to do. He had told Samuel in verse 7, "it is me they are rejecting, not you."

Lord, give me discernment to know how to respond rightly to human authorities, and to never allow them to take your place in my life as authority or as the focus of my hopes for this world.

Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the LORD spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them. The men of Israel chased them from Mizpah to a place below Beth-car, slaughtering them all along the way. Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the LORD has helped us!”  So the Philistines were subdued and didn’t invade Israel again for some time. And throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the LORD’s powerful hand was raised against the Philistines.

God often acts supernaturally to confirm his chosen leaders in the eyes of his followers. Have you seen those kinds of signs and actions confirming your leadership?

Samuel makes another leadership act here, interpreting for the people what had happened, and giving them a concrete reminder of it.

Lord, please show yourself in my life in supernatural ways, and work through me to lead your people to greater trust and obedience and impact on the world.

Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, “If you are really serious about wanting to return to the LORD, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Determine to obey only the LORD; then he will rescue you from the Philistines.” So the Israelites got rid of their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the LORD.  Then Samuel told them, “Gather all of Israel to Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you.”

There is no qualification for serving God that is more important than purity. It goes to the heart of following him, which is undivided devotion. It comes before knowledge or gifting or anything else, and creates the foundation that God builds upon.

Here Samuel follows up on a spiritual movement with a leadership act, calling the people to take a further step. This puts them in a position to see God work in more ways in the following verses.

Father, show me any corners of my heart and mind that are not cleaned and yielded to you. I want to follow you without any reservations. Please have your way with me today and change me to be more like you.

As leaders, we are people of strategy and action. We use good judgment, and know where to apply effort to get good results. It is tempting to factor in all of our planning and activity, and to leave out consideration of supernatural factors. But spiritual leaders have to always look for where and how God wants to intervene.

In these two chapters we have an instance where the leaders are completely absent. God's input is not in addition to their activity, it is solitary.

Lord, give me eyes to see and a heart to hear how you want to work, and protect me from my tendency to rely on my own planning and action to the exclusion of other ways you want to work.

"As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him, and everything Samuel said was wise and helpful."

Samuel was recognized by all the people of Israel as a prophet, and his words went out to all the people. That recognition did not come from study or eloquence, it came from intimacy with God. Samuel was in position to hear from God, the LORD spoke to him, and others recognized it.

Spiritual authority is the most important credential for Christian leaders. It all begins with intimacy with God. Are we in a position to hear from him? Are we growing in our relationship with him? Do we know him better and better? Do we understand him more and more? If we are growing that way, people will recognize it, and ultimately that will be more important than any other credential we can display.

Lord Jesus, I embrace you and your purposes for me. I reject Satan and all his ways. Today I surrender myself to your instruction and leading. Please guide me and empower me, have your way with me, and may you be pleased with my attitudes and words and actions.

"No one will succeed by strength alone."

These are the words of Hannah in the middle of her prayer of praise, reflecting on how God had acted in her life. The attitude she showed reveals the secret to seeing God work - posture is everything. It is a volitional choice to be in a position of reliance on God, which then changes our perspective and results in a changed attitude. When Hannah decided to rely on God for her need (of children), her burden was lifted. She decided to depend upon God instead of herself or anyone else, and then she was able to see God's character and activity, and it resulted in joy and praise.

Lord, I depend on you today with my mind and my heart. Please give me your perspective and allow me to see you work. And I will praise you and thank you.

"I have warned him continually...and he hasn't disciplined them. So I have vowed that the sins of Eli and his sons will never be forgiven..."

Eli served God, had some spiritual maturity, and was a source of blessing to others. Yet he tolerated his sons' sins, and the Lord punished him along with his sons for that.

I don't like that. As an only child, and growing up in an individualistic society, I prefer that everybody is responsible for himself and no one else. I want to be responsible only for myself and don't want to be responsible for anybody else.

We do not have that option in God's eyes. He holds us responsible for each other, and especially parents for children and leaders for followers.

Lord, help me grow in responsibility for those I influence. First, to embrace it and not grumble or run away from it. Then to submit to you in how to exercize the responsibility and use it to build them up to be all that you want them to be.

"Then Eli realized it was the LORD who was calling the boy."

Though he tolerated sin and was punished for it, Eli had the maturity to be able to mentor Samuel in hearing from God and responding to him. Samuel had never heard from God before, and didn't know what was happening when God spoke to him in the middle of the night. Eli was able to give him godly perspective on his experience, and proper direction on how to respond. From then on, God was with Samuel and he was confirmed as a prophet in people's eyes.

Lord, give me insight in how you are working in others' lives, and wisdom in helping them respond to you.

"Samuel was sleeping in the Tabernacle, near the Ark of God..."

This sets the stage for God speaking to Samuel in the middle of the night. We cannot control whether or not God speaks to us, but we can put ourselves in a position to hear him. The closer we stay to God, the more likely we are going to hear messages from him. In the previous chapter, it says "Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD" (1 Sam 2:21). Samuel put himself in position for God to speak to him, and he became a mighty spokesman for God.

Dear Father, help me walk and sit and sleep in a conscious awareness of your presence, with an eagerness to hear and respond to you. Please speak to me with your instruction and direction. Today I want to grow in knowing you better and serving you more faithfully.

"Oh, thank you, sir!" she exclaimed. Then she went back and began to eat again, and she was no longer sad.

When the priest gave encouraging words to Hannah, she took it as if God had spoken to her and answered her request.

We need to recognize the power of our words in peoples' lives - especially those of us in roles of spiritual authority. And we need to speak into their lives with faith, asking God what he will do and believing him for it.

Father, give me greater faith to see how you want to work in others' lives, and give me vision and courage to speak it.

I am very sad, and I was pouring out my heart to the LORD.

Sometimes God uses our anguish and sorrow to point out what is really important to us, and to give us a longing that motivates us to sacrificial action. And sometimes he waits to act until we are completely honest with him and with ourselves, and can then come to him in complete reliance.

Hannah is a model to us of perseverance and honesty and trust. Lord, help me identify my longings and come to you and believe you for answers.