A Heart Like His

I started a Beth Moore bible study called "A Heart Like His" last week. It's a study on the life of King David that I've wanted to do for some time and I am really looking forward to the journey through this study - and I've learned that when you do a Beth Moore study, it's definitely a journey! :)

I was working on the homework from the first week this morning and came across a "one-liner" kind of thought that spoke to my heart and will be with me in thought for a while, I'm sure. So I thought I'd share it here. The text for today was out of I Samuel 15 and the 'theme verse' was v.22, "...To obey is better than to sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams." Beth was contrasting the hearts of the prophet Samuel and King Saul in this story of the destruction of the Amalekites. It's best if you just go and read the whole story in I Samuel 15 and then consider Beth's closing thoughts on this chapter:

"The chapter concludes with a harrowing scene. Samuel hacked King Agag to pieces. Samuel's actions were not in haste, nor did he approach Saul with displaced piety and say 'I told you so.' Samuel acted in grieved obedience.

Perhaps Samuel's heart was the reason God used him as He did. Samuel's heart never grew cold and condemning. God allowed Samuel to be emotionally involved but enabled him to maintain objectivity so that he could 'speak the truth in love.' (Eph 4:15)

Saul learned that obedience was better than sacrifice. Samuel learned that sometimes obedience is the sacrifice."

You know, I want to think that obedience is always best for me, so therefore it ought to seem like the easy and obvious choice in all circumstances. Yes, I want to think that... but honestly, many times obedience is just hard and yeah, it means obedience becomes a sacrifice of what *I* want or what *I* think is the best way. I think what struck me today was seeing that thought put so well into words and seeing this story, objectively, from the outside looking in - it's obvious why God so often asks us just to 'trust and obey.' Our ways around obedience, even sometimes in the name of trying to do something for God (as Saul claimed), will always get us into trouble. I need to learn to trust God, even when my obedience is the sacrifice and it seems really hard...