The Need To Control

"You acted foolishly," Samuel said....

 

1 Samuel 13:13

The prophet Samuel had anointed Saul the first king of Israel; and now Saul was 30 years old and was leading the nation in battle against the Philistines. The Philistines had gathered at Micmash to come against Saul and his army. During this time, God was directing Saul through the prophet Samuel. Samuel instructed Saul to go ahead of him to Micmash, and he would follow in seven days to offer a burnt offering on behalf of the people of Israel.

The pressure began to build as the Philistines gathered around Micmash preparing for battle and Saul, along with the people of Israel grew fearful and began to scatter throughout the countryside. What made matters even more trying is that Samuel did not show up on the morning of the seventh day as he had said he would. Finally, Saul, fearing the impending attack, took it upon himself to offer the burnt offering, but after he had done this, Samuel showed up.

..."You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, He would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him leader of His people, because you have not kept the Lord's command" (1 Samuel 13:13-14).

Saul believed he needed to take control of the situation.

 

Whenever we try to take control of a situation out of God's will, we demonstrate that we are led by fear. Many times in our lives we are driven by fear and attempt to take matters into our hands in order to be in control.

 

• Do you see any signs of over control in how you relate to God or others?
• Can you allow others the freedom to fail?
• Do you find yourself changing directions in midstream when you see something you don't like?
• Are you fearful of failure?

These are all symptoms of a Saul-control spirit.

 

Ask God to strengthen you to walk in the freedom of trusting in Him and those around you.