God Works In Unusual Ways

 1 Samuel 3-4     Psalm 103    Matthew 14

The calling of the boy Samuel by God is a powerful story. He was set apart before he was born and would be the first prophet, a voice of God, for a long time. The truth of his words spread, and he became known as one who spoke for God. The priest that he served was the subject of his first message and one he would not want to deliver. It was the word that God would hold Eli accountable for his lack of action when his sons, priests of the Lord, did what was evil and took advantage of their positions.

Samuel’s words to Eli would come to pass and Eli and both his sons died on the same day that Israel was defeated, and the Ark of the Covenant was taken. The cost of disobedience is high for people and nations. The glory of the Lord was gone from Israel.

The song today is one of praise by David and opens with him recognizing that the Lord is to be set apart by all that is within him, his very life. He reminds us that the Lord sees those who are oppressed and call out to him and put their trust in him. The Lord’s compassion and grace flow through this song.

There is also the warning that God’s patience will have a limit and we will be held accountable for our actions. The verses about a flower blooming and fading away came home to me on my first visit to Jerusalem. When I came out of the hotel in the morning there was a flower there that had not been there the night before I found myself admiring. That night when we got back to the hotel, I found that the flower had faded and withered in the afternoon son. Every time I read this song, I am reminded that to God we are like the flower, here with an opportunity to show the beauty of creation for a short time.

We can never forget the fear and anger that those that proclaim the Word of the Lord will instill in those that want to live contrary to that way. The more powerful, like the king in Matthew’s story, who are used to their word being the last and most powerful will always be threatened by those that challenge the things they do because of improper use of their power. As you read the story of Herod ask how many times his decisions are driven by fear, arresting John out of fear of his mistress, fear of putting him to death to silence him because of the crowds that believed he was the voice of God and finally the fear of his reputation before his powerful guests.

Fear drives so much of our decision-making process when we are called to trust. As I read this today, I thought about the conflict of power between Jesus, while he was doing great and good things, and the political and religious leaders When Jesus challenged the disciples to provide for the people that had gathered around them, they could only see scarcity and not the abundance that was readily available. They feared they couldn’t meet the needs.

Once again Jesus withdraws to pray while they are crossing the sea, a small body of water we would like of as a lake, and the found themselves battered by waves and wind and were afraid. Then Jesus comes walking on the water and they are afraid until he tells them who he is. Peter wants what Jesus has, the ability to walk on the water. When Jesus tells him to come, he is fine till he takes his eyes off Jesus and become fearful once again of the storm. When Jesus rescues him the seas quiet when he gets in the boat, we are told they worshiped him.

Today’s readings remind us that God calls people, even very young, to service but demands obedience to receive his blessings. God does amazing things when we trust him to meet our needs and is always worthy of our praise.