Rejection.

Today I come with an open heart to write what the Lord has been writing on my heart.

Rejection.

Have you ever felt rejected? Maybe by a friend, loved one, a group of people, God? Rejection is something that we all have faced from one time to another. It is an idea that we hate. So, we fight to not be rejected. We do whatever it takes to fit in. Sometimes that involves losing who we truly are to become something that we are not. Rejection has led to divorces, suicides and depression. In itself, it is destructive. There is someone in the bible who we consider "a bad guy" that faced rejection. He was rejected by God first, the people second all because he wanted to please other people. Oh, the irony. His name is Saul and I want to look at his story.


We start in 1 Samuel 15:

15 One day Samuel said to Saul, “It was the Lord who told me to anoint you as king of his people, Israel. Now listen to this message from the Lord! 2 This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt. 3 Now go and completely destroy[a] the entire Amalekite nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys.”

4 So Saul mobilized his army at Telaim. There were 200,000 soldiers from Israel and 10,000 men from Judah. 5 Then Saul and his army went to a town of the Amalekites and lay in wait in the valley. 6 Saul sent this warning to the Kenites: “Move away from where the Amalekites live, or you will die with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites packed up and left.

7 Then Saul slaughtered the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, east of Egypt. 8 He captured Agag, the Amalekite king, but completely destroyed everyone else. 9 Saul and his men spared Agag’s life and kept the best of the sheep and goats, the cattle, the fat calves, and the lambs—everything, in fact, that appealed to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality.

The Lord Rejects Saul

10 Then the Lord said to Samuel, 11 “I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.” Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the Lord all night.

12 Early the next morning Samuel went to find Saul. Someone told him, “Saul went to the town of Carmel to set up a monument to himself; then he went on to Gilgal.”

13 When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. “May the Lordbless you,” he said. “I have carried out the Lord’s command!”

14 “Then what is all the bleating of sheep and goats and the lowing of cattle I hear?” Samuel demanded.

15 “It’s true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle,” Saul admitted. “But they are going to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. We have destroyed everything else.”

16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! Listen to what the Lord told me last night!”

“What did he tell you?” Saul asked.

17 And Samuel told him, “Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord has anointed you king of Israel. 18 And theLord sent you on a mission and told you, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead.’ 19 Why haven’t you obeyed the Lord? Why did you rush for the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?”

20 “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul insisted. “I carried out the mission he gave me. I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else. 21 Then my troops brought in the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and plunder to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”

22 But Samuel replied,

“What is more pleasing to the Lord:

    your burnt offerings and sacrifices

    or your obedience to his voice?

Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,

    and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.

23 

Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,

    and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.

So because you have rejected the command of the Lord,

    he has rejected you as king.”

Saul Pleads for Forgiveness

24 Then Saul admitted to Samuel, “Yes, I have sinned. I have disobeyed your instructions and the Lord’s command, for I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded. 25 But now, please forgive my sin and come back with me so that I may worship the Lord.”

26 But Samuel replied, “I will not go back with you! Since you have rejected theLord’s command, he has rejected you as king of Israel.”

27 As Samuel turned to go, Saul tried to hold him back and tore the hem of his robe. 28 And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to someone else—one who is better than you. 29 And he who is the Glory of Israel will not lie, nor will he change his mind, for he is not human that he should change his mind!”

We know the story well. Saul was anointed to be king of Israel. He was given a commandment. Instead, Saul did what he thought was best and disobeyed the Lord. However, he tried to rationalize that what he was doing against God, was really for God. Have you ever done that? What you knew was wrong that God told you not to do, you did it instead. Then in the Lord's name you declared that it was on His behalf? I believe that we all do this. We all decide to serve ourselves. Our own ambitions. Or maybe we serve those around us because we are afraid of what they may think of us and what God told us to do. That was Saul. He served not only his own ambitions, but rather what people thought around him. Samuel came to Saul and asked him a very important question: "Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord has anointed you as king of Israel." I think that this displays the state of Saul's heart. Saul was forgetting who he was and succumbed to being afraid of the people. God had set Saul apart. He was anointed. He was to listen to God and be different than those around him. When we accept the Holy Spirit into our lives by believing in Jesus, are we too supposed to be different from those around us, separated from the world? Paul says that we are to not be of this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds. Instead, Saul listened to the fear of rejection, and forgot who he was called to be and disobeyed the Lord.

So not only did Saul fear rejection of the people, he made an amazing rationale and tried to change the disobedience into giving a sacrifice. How well do we know this idea of spinning a situation to make us look like a martyr instead of a disobeying child of God. "I give my time to the church; I give, I sacrifice, I attend, I come." However, how far are our hearts from the Lord. Are you doing these "sacrifices" for the Lord, or for the appearance of good - people pleasing. The pharisees were well known for being "white washed tombs," looking good on the outside, but dead on the inside. Working in the name of the Lord without the Lord ever being invited into the work. You see, when we "work" for the Lord without Him, his guidance isn't sought and ultimately disobedience is found when we aren't seeking after Him. Samuel explained this to Saul "Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of the rams." God desires obedience over anything. Mike drop. Period. Finito. No arguments. No ands, ifs or buts. 

Saul is much more like you and I than we rather admit. Because admitting that we are like Saul means that we could potentially face the same rejection from God that he faced. The Lord told Samuel that he was sorry that he ever anointed Saul as king. My prayer is that God isn't sorry that he ever called me or chose me. You see, because of Saul's fear of rejection and blindness caused by the fear caused Saul to lose who he truly was. He lost his anointing and his calling. God also gave both of these things to someone else. He had chosen someone who would be known as the man after God's own heart; David. David wasn't a perfect man, but he was a man willing to not let fear drive him and to pursue God's will and desire. I long to be the woman that isn't letting fear drive her who is willing to pursue God passionately. Although, I fail more times than not, I hold on to the hope that God's grace is sufficient. I pray today that this finds you and encourages you to not let fear be what is separating you from the Lord. For "perfect love (of the Father) casts out all fear." 1 John 4:18