His Plan

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

HIS PLAN

1 Samuel 9:11-17

11 As they were going up the hill to the town, they met some girls coming out to draw water, and they asked them, "Is the seer here?" 12 "He is," they answered. "He's ahead of you. Hurry now; he has just come to our town today, for the people have a sacrifice at the high place. 13 As soon as you enter the town, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not begin eating until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterward, those who are invited will eat. Go up now; you should find him about this time." 14 They went up to the town, and as they were entering it, there was Samuel, coming toward them on his way up to the high place. 15 Now the day before Saul came, the LORD had revealed this to Samuel: 16 "About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him leader over my people Israel; he will deliver my people from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked upon my people, for their cry has reached me." 17 When Samuel caught sight of Saul, the LORD said to him, "This is the man I spoke to you about; he will govern my people."

NIV

Saul and his father’s servant were still looking for the lost donkeys and had heard that there was a seer; they thought he would be able to tell them where the donkeys were. However, that was their plan as directed by Saul’s father, and God had another plan for Saul. The LORD informed Samuel that the man he had chosen to be the king of Israel was about to show up. This is our key for life, if we are going to be the person of God we profess to be. Simply being, thinking, or calling ourselves a Christian may not always equate to being a person of God. Just as Saul was trying to fulfill the task he had in the earthly realm, having his own plan as to how to achieve finding those lost donkeys, we can live a fair portion of our lives, trying to fulfill our plans in the earthly realm. Yet, God has a plan, just as he did for Saul, although he was not aware until he met the man of God, the seer, Samuel. Sometimes we meet certain people in our lives who assist God in bringing about His plan for our lives. Of course, we need to be listening, or watching when someone says something to us that changes the course of our lives and brings us into the plan God had for us. We could even hear the very word of God at times when he intervenes, so we are in the place he has for us so that we meet the right person of God who helps direct us or awakens us to the plan God is directing us toward. The point is, just with Saul, we might make our plans, but God orders our footsteps or path. God will always find a way to speak into our lives what He has chosen who we will be and what we should do; however, we still need to be listening. If we are deafened by all the noise of this world, and totally focused on our desire in this earthly realm, we may not be able to hear what we should be doing in the heavenly realm, even though it would take place in the earthly realm. Because we have our citizenship and live in the Kingdom of God, we are still confined in our physical environment, and here is where we can fulfill the calling, task, or ministry God has for our lives, until he calls us home. Let us always be aware of that encounter with God, however that happens, it is still God directing our footsteps in the way we should go, so we fulfill his plan.