“Get Up and Get Moving”
By Rev. Everett R. Kimble, Sr.
“Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king” (1Samuel 16:1, NLT).
I am starting off with your encouragement for today. Stop using your pain and disappointment as an excuse for not moving forward. Get up, dry your eyes and step into and began to walk the path that God has chosen for you.
If you are familiar with this passage here in 1 Samuel you know that Saul became king because God’s people lost sight of Him and became fixated on the ungodly leadership in the world around them. Israel saw that all the other kingdoms had kings to judge them instead of an all-loving God and decided that a king was what they wanted, so God gave them just that. But first God sent Samuel to warn them of the pitfalls of having a king, but like many of us, they wanted what they wanted. Things turned out to be just as God told them they would be. It wasn’t all bad though. There were times when it looked as though Saul was headed in the right direction and he was doing what was right in the eyes of God. But a king was never what God intended for his people. And so, here in 1Samuel 16:1 God has had enough and we find Samuel crying over “spilled milk.” He had petitioned God on several occasions and God had given him an answer and a mission, but he was still stuck in his pain and disappointment.
Some of you are stuck too. You have been praying for your son to make a change and it seems like he just does not get it. You have been crying out for your husband or your wife, but they are still disconnected. You have convinced yourself that if just one person in your community could see things the way you see them it would make your activism a lot easier, but you feel as though God is not listening. Even the prayers you are praying for yourself seem to go unanswered. The hard truth is at this point the answer may simply be no or not yet, either way it is out of your control, but that does not change the mission you have been given right now.
You’ve got to get up and keep loving. You have to step up and do the things that need to be done right now. You need to hold up the light and keep illuminating the way to Jesus, but whatever you do don’t give up because God is counting on you to fulfill your mission.
It may not be what you think it should be, but that is what faith is, trusting God even when you can’t see and understand what comes next. You have mourned long enough now get up and get moving. Today is going to be awesome, even if you find yourself crying your way through. Have a great Friday, Be blessed!
