Donkeys Lost.Have you ever had a "chance encounter" with someone, and when you walked away you knew that God was doing something so much bigger--even if you didn't fully understand what it was, you recognized the encounter as not a chance encounter, but a divine encounter? Maybe it was from seeing this in my own life recently that when I read I Samuel 9-10, I could see it in Saul's life. In those two chapters, the donkeys are mentioned four different times--but the whole story, the BIG PICTURE story, is that God is about to anoint the first KING of Israel! |
God's New King Anointed!
When Saul first approaches Samuel to ask him where the seer's house is, Samuel says, "Today you are to eat with me, and in the morning I will tell you all that is in your heart. As for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not worry about them; they have been found." From Saul's perspective, his whole "reason" for being there had been answered in the first couple minutes--but Samuel had a whole feast with Saul as the guest of honor, a talk time on the roof of his house, and private anointing the next morning already planned according to God's instructions.
Donkeys Found.
After all the amazing and exciting things God had done, do you know what Saul replied? "He assured us that the donkeys had been found." End of story? No. Beginning of story. Because God had divinely directed Saul on a "wild donkey chase" to move His Big Picture plan into motion.
When I encounter people in unexpected places or at unexpected times, may I remember that God is doing something bigger behind the scenes--it's not about the donkeys!