You Can't Always Get What You Want

I. Samuel 8:4-22 NLT

Finally, the leaders of Israel met at Ramah, to discuss the matter with Samuel. "Look," they told him, "you are now old, and your sons are not like you. Give us a king like all the other nations have." Samuel was very upset with their request and went to the LORD for advice. "Do as they say," the LORD replied, "for it is me they are rejecting, not you. They don't want me to be their king any longer. Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually forsaken me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about how a king will treat them." So Samuel passed on the LORD'S warning to the people. "This is how a king will treat you," Samuel said. "The king will draft your sons into his army and make them run before his chariots. Some will be commanders of his troops, while others will be slave laborers. Some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, while others will make his weapons and chariot equipment. The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own servants. He will take a tenth of your harvest and distribute it among him officers and attendants. He will want your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and donkeys for his own use. He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves. When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but the LORD will not help you." 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 govern us and lead us into battle." So Samuel told the LORD what the people had said, and the LORD replied, "Do as they say, and give them a king." Then Samuel agreed and sent the people home.

America, I hope you are happy with what you've chosen.

I can't say that I don't understand. Our country is in a topsy-turvy state of affairs. We are so unstable and divided (the Word calls it double-minded) that nothing seems to make sense to us anymore. The world systems we have come to put our trust in-finances, government, political powers, military powers-have all been shaken to their breaking point. We are in the same condition Israel was in when Saul came on the scene.

I sure hope things don't turn out for us like they did for Israel. Saul's anger and impetuousness, not to mention his outright rebellion set Israel up for Philistine attacks for generations AFTER his rule. He was a piece of work, that one.

But, you know, the people got what they wanted. They fit into the culture surrounding them. They were validated by having a King who was like the kings around them. It didn't matter to them that they would eventually be at the mercy of a tyrant who, at best, had anger control issues, at worst was a murderous liar.
The only thing that they were worried about was someone who would get them out of the mess they themselves had gotten into over the course of time.

They couldn't and didn't trust God to take care of them. They had to have a go-to man. And he ended up putting them through trauma and turmoil untold. Read about his life...he didn't start out as an arrogant rebel. But power corrupts, as the old adage goes, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

So, America. Have you gotten what you wanted? Only time will tell.

I am praying for this man, that he will be led and protected by the Spirit of God. That he will have at least one person on his staff who hears from God, who has the courage to step up and show out for Jesus Christ. I am praying for our legislature, that the special interest groups and the pandering political action committees will have their mouths and wallets sealed up so our standards and beliefs in this country will stop being compromised for pennies and favors.

I am most of all praying for our children, and our grandchildren. I am the mother of a six-year-old boy, and my job for the foreseeable future is to remind him of what his rights are as a citizen of this country. I don't want to imagine an America that is so secularized and marginalized by a godless and apathetic political engine that my son and my grandbabies who have yet to be born won't remember what it was like to speak freely, worship openly, and protest without fear of retribution.

I am praying that passionate people all over this nation will come together to salvage a life that we have taken for granted for so long and tell anyone who will listen, "We will preserve this life for generations to come!" and then back it up with action. Talk is cheap. Freedom isn't free. It comes with a hefty price tag.

Folks, I don't see this as a "dark time" or a "dreadful day" for our country. I don't want you to misconstrue what I'm saying. The King who followed Saul was David. David had so tapped into who God was and what God wanted that the Word says he was a man after God's own heart.

That's who we, the Body of Christ, should take as our example. We are the Davids of this generation. Saul may pursue us and try to take us out, but GOD IS IN CONTROL! We should worship passionately, serve with valor and courage in the face of insurmountable giants and praise when it makes absolutely no sense. That is what will preserve this country we love~ a generation of Davids who are in hot pursuit of God's heart for this day!

I hope you will join me in this mission. It is not an impossible mission, it is a mission we have been called to, Beloved. We would not be here on Earth today if God had not ordained our lives for this place in time. We are not here by chance.
It is up to us to decide: Are we on the Lord's side? Are we for Him or against Him? Are we going to choose life or death?

These choices are simplistic, yet earth shattering in their importance. What are you willing to do? It's your choice. It didn't end with the choice you made at the polls...the most important decisions face us in days to come.

I pray you will make the only choice a Believer can...choose Life, Love, Hope, and Peace. That will save the world as we know it...and although many will find they didn't get what they wanted from this election, many of us are going to find out in the coming months...we got exactly what we needed.

Be blessed, Beloved!

Jennifer Barnes
UPLIFT! Editor