Like Samuel

Have you ever watched as someone you knew slipped away from the Lord? It’s usually a gradual thing. People don’t generally wake up one morning and decide they’re going to backslide. It happens over a period of time and through a series of events. Perhaps a person has a trial that comes into their life and they have a question as to why this would happen, but then they try to bring themselves back to the Truth of God’s Word and His love for them. However, their thoughts keep leading them to question the Lord, and the comments from others don’t help either. Christians and non-Christians alike wonder why God would allow this to happen to a “good person.”

Someone steps in – maybe it was you – and tries to give godly counsel. The person in the trial is guided to the promises in God’s Word that the Lord is trying to conform them to the likeness of His Son through this difficulty. By now, though, they are becoming cynical and they shake their head as as loving friend tries to lead them to right biblical thinking. They continue on a downward spiral, avoiding church and anyone who points them to God. The tendency for the one that has tried to lead them back to the right way is to say, “Fine, go your way. I hope you reap from what you’re sowing! I’m washing my hands of this.”

As I read I Samuel 15 today I was struck at how Samuel responded to hearing that Saul had not obeyed the Lord. It says in verse11 – “And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night.” His heart was broken for Saul. Samuel had given Saul much instruction, but spite that Saul chose to go his own way and disobey the Lord’s commands. In verse 35 we read, “Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul…” Samuel wasn’t afraid to share the truth with Saul; a reminder, I believe, that we don’t just sit and watch someone sin and be afraid to tell them the truth in love. But we must remain broken over their sin. I believe that Samuel continued to pray for Saul, and even though he watched Saul slipping farther and farther, he loved him and desired that Saul make things right with the Lord.

If there’s someone you know that has drifted – perhaps even in a drastic way, ask the Lord to keep your heart soft towards them, as modeled by godly Samuel. May our hearts be as such as would mourn and cry to the Lord all night for a brother or sister that has wandered. Keep praying, keep lovingly sharing the truth when you have the opportunity. God desires that they return to Him, and it might be due to a Christian friend like you that they will do just that. Let’s be like Samuel.