Overwhelmed

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

OVERWHELMED

1 Samuel 4:12-22

12 That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh, his clothes torn and dust on his head. 13 When he arrived, there was Eli sitting on his chair by the side of the road, watching, because his heart feared for the ark of God. When the man entered the town and told what had happened, the whole town sent up a cry. 14 Eli heard the outcry and asked, "What is the meaning of this uproar?" The man hurried over to Eli, 15 who was ninety-eight years old and whose eyes were set so that he could not see. 16 He told Eli, "I have just come from the battle line; I fled from it this very day." Eli asked, "What happened, my son?" 17 The man who brought the news replied, "Israel fled before the Philistines, and the army has suffered heavy losses. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God has been captured." 18 When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had led Israel forty years. 19 His daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant and near the time of delivery. When she heard the news that the ark of God had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she went into labor and gave birth, but was overcome by her labor pains. 20 As she was dying, the women attending her said, "Don't despair; you have given birth to a son." But she did not respond or pay any attention. 21 She named the boy Ichabod, saying, "The glory has departed from Israel"-because of the capture of the ark of God and the deaths of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 She said, "The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured."

NIV

The most horrible of horrors that could have happened at that time was that the ark of God had been captured by the Philistines.  Although it was a terrible thing for the Israelites, we will see that it is the most horrible of things for the Philistines. However, our story here is about Eli, as this was also the last time we heard about him. He was the one who thought Hannah was drunk when she was praying to be able to bear a son, and she promised she would give him to the LORD. Samuel grew up under the tutelage of Eli the priest, who served before the ark of God and whose two sons died the same day because they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD. Eli's house would never have a man who lived to old age. Now he is in his late nineties, old, blind, and fat. When he heard the news that the ark of the Covenant had been captured, he fell backwards, broke his neck, and died. Eli could not bear to hear of what happened to the most scared thing of Israel Because of what happened, as we will see, to the Philistine cities wherever they took the ark of God, we know it most definitely was the place God used to represent his presence with the people, even though it was just a box. It was meaningful to the people, and Eli was so overwhelmed by the ark being gone, he fell backwards off his chair and died. We wonder if we are overwhelmed at all because of the presence of the Lord being with us. Are we just living a ho-hum Christian life, doing what we think is the right thing, or going through the motions of religious activities, but having no intense, overwhelming response to the dwelling of the Holy Spirit within us? He brings so much into our being, his fruit, gifts, and power, and the evidence of all those should give us that intense sense, and our response would include an abundance of worship, almost as if we would be falling face down before the throne of God. Of course, we may not appear that way throughout our daily responsibilities; however, we would think that when we enter the sanctuary of the Lord in church, we would reflect our reverence for his presence among us, or within us. Still, because the Spirit is always with us, we should be reflecting those fruits, gifts, and power in our lives daily. That might just be overwhelming to experience all that every day, but then God has been, is, and will ever be a God who is gentle and loving to each of us, and yet His glory is overwhelming.