Title: God Who Leads (1 Samuel 9:1)
God who guides
1 Samuel 9:1-10
What do you learn from reading the Bible? Do you learn wisdom to live in the world? Do you learn great tactics? Or do you acquire new knowledge that the world does not have? Are you learning human relationships? Are you learning the secret to success? all good It would be great if we could learn all these things through the Bible. But no matter what you are trying to learn or what you are trying to achieve, there is one premise that you must realize clearly. It is the realization of nothing else. Basically, we need to know that we cannot realize anything unless we do not know the hand that God guides us. We should be able to thank God for guiding us in the face of the fact that I am alive and breathing today, that I am here, and that I can meet and share the joy with so many people.
It is summer vacation season and the highway is full every day. Accidents are inevitable on highways where there are many cars. It seems that many of our members have gone on vacation, but we have to be careful about traffic accidents. Anyway, if you go to the emergency room of a hospital where there are traffic accidents or emergency patients, there are quite a few cases where an oxygen cylinder is installed and artificial respiration is given. Of course, insurance covers that expense, but oxygen in the oxygen tank is quite expensive. How expensive would it be to provide a continuous supply of oxygen for 24 hours without stopping for a second? If so, we don't know how much oxygen we're getting free of charge every day. So, in fact, the price of oxygen that we breathe in during our lifetime would be a really great value.
Where is that? Have you ever checked the price of electricity? Although we operate the air conditioner on a hot day like these days, the electricity cost of our church is about 3-4 million won per month. How much would it be if we calculated the electricity bill for 365 days a year without a day off? If God sends you, how much do you have to pay per year? How grateful would it be if our country [Korea Electric Power Corporation] exempted us from electricity for one year? We need to know how beneficial it is to the growth and survival of our animals and plants by giving the sunlight that God gives us in moderation as well as sunlight. We believe and thank God for all of this. It is the basis of faith that we must be able to acknowledge the hand of God who is guiding us.
Today's text also shows the hand of God who leads. One day, Israel asks God to appoint a king for them. The reason is that they will not be ruled by judges or corrupt priests who do not have the strong power to stop the invasion of the Gentiles. In fact, God was not pleased with the request. The reason is recorded in 1 Samuel 8:7. “The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to all that the people have said to you, for they have not forsaken you, but have forsaken me, that you should not be king over them.” It means you want to get out. This is tantamount to breaking the covenant with God. However, God appointed Saul as king through Samuel and made him rule over Israel. It was the request of Israel that they would regret in the end, but God answered them, and the most important thing is that He always took care of and guided them personally from behind. One scene of that guidance is today's text. I hope that we can meet God who leads us through the hand of God who leads Israel and responds to unreasonable demands.
What are we losing and discouraged today? There are people who lose their dreams and worry that they will find them. Today, the world is filled with the concerns of those who have lost their dream of owning a house, those who have lost their health, and those who have lost their loved ones. It's all about worrying about lost things. However, the saints should not have any concern for the lost things of the world, nor should they have a cursed consciousness. If you have faith that this is also God's way of leading you, you will soon be able to get rid of those worries. I hope that you have the faith to give up attachment to what you have already lost, remembering that loss does not necessarily end in loss, but is a better and more beautiful hand of grace that God has prepared.
Are any of us depressed today because of what we have failed and what has lost? It's the college admissions period these days, but are there any students who fail the entrance exam and feel discouraged? If you did your best, it's a worthwhile failure. God will lead you to a better place. Is there anyone in your family who is desperate for losing their health? I earnestly wish that the immense providence of God, which we do not know, hidden behind the loss, will come upon the family.
Dear saints!
Even today, even though we are living in a series of failures and losses, I hope that all of you have great faith in believing that each moment is the hand of God's guidance.