Today's reading: 1 Samuel 7-8; Romans 10
A few days ago, when writing about 1 Samuel 2, I brought up Jesus' instruction, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” 1 Samuel 7 is a great example of how it is always better to go God's way and to seek first His kingdom, knowing that He is able to take care of the rest when we do.
Up to this point Israel has been oppressed by the Philistines for years. The Philistines have taken some of their cities, the land they haven't taken is under constant threat, and when Israel has tried to push back against the Philistines they have lost. Israel has not been a match for their Philistine oppressors, and the situation has only gotten worse as time has passed. They have tried to go about this the worldly way, and they have failed at every turn.
But at the beginning of 1 Samuel 7 we see that things have finally gone far enough that the people realize they can't deliver themselves and, tired of Philistine rule, they agree to put away their other gods and turn back to the Lord. In that spirit Samuel gathers the people to Mizpah where they admit their sin and repent before the Lord, turning back to Him as a people.
Then we are told that the lords of the Philistines heard that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah and gathered their armies against them. We aren't told if they assumed Israel was gathering to make plans for war, or if they just thought this would be a good opportunity to take Israel out once and for all, but whatever their reasoning, they attack. But then, since the people are gathered before the Lord, they actually call out to Him for deliverance (as they should have been all along), and He responds by granting Israel a great victory over the Philistines, even giving them back large swaths of land that the Philistines had taken.
Here's the thing: Gathering your people to worship the Lord is not good military strategy. But this wasn't a military strategy. Israel didn't gather at Mizpah to manipulate the Lord into giving them military victory, they gathered at Mizpah to repent and turn back to the Lord. But when they sought the Lord He responded to their repentance by drawing the Philistine lords to attack them so that He could give their armies into Israel's hands. So the thing they most needed but weren't able to accomplish on their own (deliverance from the Philistines), God provided for them when they set themselves to seek Him.
And this is so often how it goes. There are times when going God's way seems like it will clearly leave us in need and we simply cannot see how it could possibly work out if we don't take matters into our own hands. But there was no way Israel could have foreseen the Philistine attack when they had gathered to worship the Lord, nor could they have foreseen the divine response to that attack if they had. In the same way, we don't know what the Lord has in mind for us. We don't know how He wants to work in or through a given situation to bring about His purposes in our lives. But what we can know is that when we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all these things will be added to us.
God is always faithful and He is always trustworthy. No promise of the Lord will ever fall to the ground. Maybe it's time we step out a little bit more in faith, seeking first His kingdom, and letting Him blow us away by His goodness and provision for our lives.
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