I’m reading in the Book of 1 Samuel this morning. God has told Samuel, the prophet, that the man he just met (Saul) was “the man I told you about who will rule my people.”
Note to self on that one is that God can whisper in people’s ears about who you are well before you arrive.
Anyway…Saul had no idea what was awaiting him … he was just out looking for the donkeys that had gotten loose and run off.
When Samuel finally tells Saul who GOD says he is…Saul responds in disbelief…huh!?? Me?!? But I’m ONLY from _____ and my family is the least important of all families there…why are you saying stuff like this!?
Saul’s past was already bubbling up to cause him pause in believing what GOD had said about him and what he had in store for him.
But this was the line that really stood out to me…
Samuel was bringing out all the tribes and all the families to announce and introduce Saul as the one God had chosen to be their leader…but they couldn’t find him. When they asked the Lord where he was this was the reply:
“He is hiding among the baggage.”
There it is.
God had anointed him. Samuel had recognized him and prophesied over him as the one GOD had chosen…and yet, Saul was hiding among the baggage.
I wonder how many of us are hiding among the baggage…you know … the stuff you’re still carrying around that’s not really yours to carry. The beliefs, the wounds, the trauma, the feeling that you’re not enough or that God must have been mistaken when he chose you for the task.
Saul felt it, too.
But feelings don’t erase what God has said about you. The baggage you’re hiding amongst is really of no consequence because God already knows it all and still he chose you.
When they finally found Saul in his hiding place, they brought him out and he stood “head and shoulders above anyone else.”
Just makes me wonder what’s waiting for so many when they come out of hiding and shake off that baggage they’ve been carrying.
xox.eb
This is so good!
Oh my goodness! And I can't help but wonder how many of Saul's issues were because he may have left the baggage, but his internal baggage went with him. Insecurity and not knowing who we are often manifests as pride and self-reliance, which was Saul's downfall. Definitely a good reminder to deal with our junk when it comes up and not shove it back down or hide in it!