It's Not Like This Surprised God

When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,' you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman.  (Deuteronomy 17:14-15 NASB)

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; and they said to him, "Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations." (1 Samuel 8:4-5 NASB)

There are multiple opinions of the monarchy in Scripture, not just one.  We assume there is one because One God inspired it.  But I believe we "presume" with God when we believe that His views are universal when it comes to His highly variable human creatures.  The only universal with His human creatures is that we are lost and dead without Him.  Other than that, we're as different from each other as our fingerprints.

So, when the people asked for a king, it offended Samuel because he was already their judge.  They rejected him in a very real, very personal sense.  They blamed it on his sons and on his age, but they also ignored his success.  The realities of the one eclipsed the reality of the other, and it hurt Samuel's heart. 

God saw it differently.  He saw it as another in a long line of usurpations of His Sovereignty over His chosen people.  But it didn't surprise Him.  He already had it lined out what would happen.  Back in the day of Moses, as the people camped on banks of the Jordan River, God described for Moses what should be done when the people asked for a king.  He even knew why they would ask, "...like all the nations who are around me."  So, this is not a surprise. 

Every once in a great while, I have a shining moment of brilliance, and I lay out my brilliant idea before my Master.  Sheer brilliance! I have a plan, an idea, a wonderful new method or way or procedure or something equally boring and uninteresting, completely underwhelming and irrelevant to my Master and His plans and ideas.  But He listens, completely unperturbed, as if I've just discovered the cure for cancer He's been trying to get everyone to find right under their noses or something.  But it's not like He's surprised.

Think about it.  What can I discover that He didn't create?  What can I imagine that didn't come from elements He provided?  What can I do or decide that isn't an amalgam of circumstances He orchestrated?  Sure I have free-will.  Of course I have real decisions to make.  It's clear that I have responsibility for my mistakes and correct deeds and decisions.  But none of that flies in the face of or in any way minimizes the complete sovereignty of my Master.

Why then do I think that what I achieve at work is about me?  Why when bad things happen do I take it personal?  What makes me think that the world, or the piece of it in which I live, has anything to do with me?  Why is it so easy to forget that my entire value is in the eyes of my Master, and my purpose is entirely His design.  Is there something more valuable I can imagine than the love of my Master?  Perhaps I can envision some loftier purpose than the one He designs.  Have I lost my mind? 

How hard is it to just simply fall back into the assurance that my Master has my life in His hand?  Bad stuff happens, bring it on!  Good stuff happens, thank you Master!  Difficulty at work, I work for my King, and this is His purpose.  Happiness at home, we will praise Him together.  Pain and sorrow at home, we will grieve together before His throne and be comforted by His presence.  It makes no difference as to the circumstances nor where they occur; nothing separates me from the foot of His throne.

Now, for the reality of my day.  Let's see if I can live out these words as easily as I have written them...