TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Samuel 9:15-20
TO CHEW ON: "Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed this to Samuel: 'About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him leader over my people Israel...'” 1 Samuel 9:15,16
When Samuel told the people to go home after they had asked for a king, he didn’t know who that king would be. But God did.
Some time after that some donkeys got lost. Their owner Kish, from tribe of Benjamin, sent his son Saul and a servant to look for them. They walked for miles and miles but they couldn't find the donkeys. Finally Saul was ready to give up. “We’d better go home,” he said, “or Dad will start worrying about us.”
“Let’s try just one more thing,” the servant suggested. “A prophet lives nearby. Let’s ask him if he knows where the donkeys are.”
Meanwhile Samuel, the prophet, had heard from God. God had told him, “Tomorrow I will send a man to you from the tribe of Benjamin. He will be the new king.”
The next day Samuel was walking outside his house when along came a tall, handsome stranger. “Do you know where the prophet’s house is?” the stranger asked.
Even as Samuel was replying, “I am the prophet,” God was speaking to him. ‘This is the man.’
Samuel told Saul that the donkeys had been found. Then he invited Saul to his house for a meal. They had a long talk and Saul spent the night.
How interesting that God used an ordinary, even annoying thing – losing something and having to look for it – to bring Saul to Samuel. Can He still work in everyday situations like this? Does He?
PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for being in every place and happening in my life. Amen.
MORE: Donkeys
Donkeys were more common in the Bible than horses. Find out about donkeys:
1. How are they different from horses?
2. What do they eat?
3. How would you care for them?
4. How are they useful to people?
5. Read some more donkey stories from the Bible
- A donkey speaks: Numbers 22:21-31
- A donkey carries Jesus: Matthew 21:1-11