Are You Hiding?

1 Samuel 10 What would it be like to become the first King of Israel? To practically be thrown right into the job. Saul was told by Samuel that he would be the king. It wasn't because God wanted a king but it was because the people of Israel wanted to be like all the other nations. But Samuel didn't want the Israelite king to be like the kings from all the other nations where they made their own rules. He wanted Saul to answer to a higher authority - God. Saul starts out pretty good, but he struggled with insecurity, jealousy, pride and other things throughout his reign. In 1 Samuel 10, we see the first signs of his on/off again allegiance to God. He goes from being inspired boldness to uninspired weakness, all in one chapter. Samuel tells Saul that the Spirit of God will come upon him. And just as Samuel had said, the Spirit does come upon him. Saul meets up with some prophets and he proceeds to speak the words of God along with them. Very commendable and bold. I think that he was coming off of a spiritual high after being with Samuel and hearing all the things that Samuel told him. He was ready and prepared to receive the Spirit. If you are a church leader this is much like what we experience after we get back from a leadership conference. We are hyped and excited about new possibilities God is revealing to us. But this spiritual high ended for Saul. When Samuel was ready to announce Saul as king to the tribes of Israel, Saul hides among the baggage. People had to go look for him and drag him out. Stop for a second and think about that. The bible does not linger on this and it is easy to read right past the significance of him hiding. It would be like the President of the United States hiding backstage and refusing to come out when it was announced the he won the Presidency. Not a good sign of things to come, that's for sure. Maybe it was Saul's fear of the unknown. Like I said at the beginning, he was pretty much thrown into the job. Maybe it was because he was afraid to fail or look stupid in front of his peers. Saul went from allowing the Spirit to reign in Him where he boldly spoke of God, to allowing his insecurities to cause him to cower among the baggage. I can't help but see the parallel in for our lives today. Sometimes, when we are faced with something difficult, we hide, we don't act, we don't go for it like we should. Often, things look impossible to us. We think, "How can I ever get through this?" When things look impossible, I challenge you (and me) to rely on HIM to pull you through. Don't hide from something God is calling you to do or from something that looks impossible. These situations are the perfect time to rely on Him because then you will see Him move and your faith will become stronger.