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Who do you Trust?

                A thousand years before Christ, if there was a “Most likely to succeed” vote, Saul would have won by a landslide! 
                1 Samuel 9:2 introduces him by saying, “[Saul was] an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites – a head taller than any of the others”.  Some versions of the Bible say that he was “Young and good looking” or that “There was no one more handsome than Saul”.  
                When God finally allowed Israel to have a king, the choice was obvious (1 Samuel 10).  Saul’s courage made him a good military leader (1 Samuel 11) and his popularity united the people.  Saul was strong, confident and effective. 
                It is surprising, then, that when God lists the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11, King Saul does not make the team.  There are several reasons for this, but they all stem from one big issue which can be seen in 1 Samuel 13.
                The Philistines gathered their army and it was obvious that the Israelites were in big trouble.  Some of the warriors began to lose heart and run away, but King Saul stood his ground.  In fact, he wanted to attack, but because he had been told to wait until Samuel came and offered a sacrifice to God, he waited.  A week later, his patience ran out.  Saul decided that it was up to him to make something happen, so he offered the sacrifice himself.   Moments later, Samuel arrived and announced that Saul’s impatience had cost him the kingship (verses 5-14).
                Simply stated, Saul’s problem was that he trusted in himself too much and trusted in God too little. 
                The scary part of that story is that we act the same way.  Too often, I have seen churches and church leaders push their own agendas and ideas.  Of course, they pray, but it is only to get God to rubber-stamp their own goals and ambitions.  As King Saul proved, this attitude is spiritually deadly!
                Remember, Jesus did not say that is was impossible to build a church group based on our own gifts, talents, and experience. What he did say is that those efforts would be worth nothing if they do not flow out of a relationship with Him (Matthew 7:21-23; John 15:5).
                Jesus said that he would build his church (Matthew 16:18).  Therefore, maybe we ought to start by asking what he wants us to do.
                “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

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