Are You Hiding?

Judah Hiding in the Closet: Found You!

Has God ever asked you to obey Him in an area of your life and you continually choose not to follow through?  Maybe He has told you to forgive a person who has wounded you. Or possibly He has asked you to serve Him in a certain area of ministry in which you feel inadequately prepared. Or has He clearly instructed you to go on that mission trip and fear is gripping your heart? He tells, asks and instructs, but you continually ignore His instructions.

You are not alone!

So many times God has clearly given me “marching orders” and I make one excuse after another to not be obedient.  Or I busy myself with things that might seem to others to be “good things” but they are not the “best” because they are not what God has clearly asking me to do

In I Samuel 10, the prophet, Samuel, anointed Saul to be the first King of Israel at God’s direction.   Samuel calls all the tribes of Israel together to present Saul to them as their King.  Yet, Saul was nowhere to be found.  The people cry out to the Lord to find out where Saul was.  The Lord answers, “Behold he (Saul) has hidden himself among the baggage.”

I Samuel 10:22b ESV.

The Hebrew word translated “baggage” means “stuff”.  Either Saul was feeling extremely inadequate despite God’s anointing or possibly he just didn’t want to leave the life he once knew and be obedient to the Lord.  Nonetheless, he was hiding from the call of God.   Hiding among the stuff of life.

Many times I hide in my to-do list rather than in obedience.  Or I hide in what I perceive my inadequacies are.  Or I am afraid that obedience will cost me something   Obedience is always costly but disobedience is more costly! (Experiencing God, by Henry Blackaby)

Saul’s reign as King was tumultuous and costly because he never learned to listen to God and obey Him.  When God rejects Saul as king, He sends Samuel to tell Saul:

“Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” 

I Samuel 15:22b ESV

Let’s quit hiding in stuff!  Let’s listen to what God is asking us to do, whatever it is, and let us walk in obedience.  Put away the excuses, the fear, and the to-do list and walk in obedience to His calling on our lives.

When we do, God will empower us and we will see His Kingdom advanced.