By UPPZ President Charles Chanda
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WHEN PEOPLE DECIDE WHAT THEY WANT SUBMIT TO THEIR WILL.
Samuel 8:4-20
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5and said to him, ‘You are old and your sons do not follow in your ways; appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.’ 6But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to govern us.’ Samuel prayed to the Lord, 7and the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8Just as they have done to me,* from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you. 9Now then, listen to their voice; only—you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.’
10 So Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11He said, ‘These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; 12and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plough his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. 15He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. 16He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle* and donkeys, and put them to his work. 17He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day.’
Israel’s Request for a King Granted
19 But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, ‘No! but we are determined to have a king over us, 20so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles.’
It was very painful for Samuel to be told in his face that people did not want him and naturally it is like that. Open rejection is very painful and if not handled carefully can lead to endangering innocent lives. Leaders must understand that they cannot rule forever and this is the reason why why must leave the stage whilst people are still clapping. Its arrogance, stubbornness and surrounding oneself with wicked advisors that blind many leaders.
Samuel had taken leader very personal and cried. To prove that he took his leadership role personal he was preparing his children to succeed him and little did he know that this was a pain to the nation. Sensitivity in leadership is very important. Never take things for granted. It took God to calm Samuel to leave the palace and handover the instrument of power to the next person. Leadership is from God and when your set time is over leave the seat. God has several ways of removing leaders and sometimes he uses the elimination method and none can ask him what does thou. Some leaders could not live to finish their terms whilst others outlived all those that took over from them. The key is obey the voice to live and never engage in any manipulative exercises as this leads to shame, embarrassment and destruction.
Samuel had reservations with the person that was to take over from him. Sometimes we may not like the next person but this must not make us take the law into our hands. Leave leadership matters into God’s hands and he will sort things out himself.
Always remember that no one can ascend to any national leadership position without the direct approval of God. God gives nations based on the disposition, behaviour and attitude of the hearts of the people. God gave Isreal Moses because the people cried as a result of the bondage of the Egyptians and the story is known. God gave Isreal Saul as King because of resentment, bitterness and corruption in the house of Samuel and the result is known. God gave Isreal David because there was a giant that needed to be dealt with and the story is known. Hitler, Pharaoh and Nebchardnezer were all leaders from God and they served their generation. The lesson is never take leadership personal, a party or family to holder affair.
I trust that God has spoken to a heart as he has done mine. Wait for your time, don’t abuse your time and when time is up, give the next person. God is in control. Let love rule
Have a blessed Sunday
CC
UPPZ President